Preventing Injury, One Knee at a Time
DEXTER, Mich. – Studies show that adolescent and college-aged female athletes – especially soccer and basketball players – are three to four times more likely to sustain an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury than their male counterparts. Saint Joseph Mercy Health System (SJMHS) physical therapists in partnership with the Joan C. Banfield Foundation are working together to prevent these injuries in female athletes at Dexter Community Schools.
Founded in 2004, the Joan C. Banfield Foundation is a charitable organization in the Dexter community that is dedicated to building an endowment to enrich the quality and support of female athletics from Kindergarten to 12th grade.
“The Joan C. Banfield Foundation is pleased that St. Joe’s is willing to help our athletes,” says Bill Holmes, board member of the Foundation. “St. Joe experts are donating their time to train our girls and we couldn’t be more thankful. We know these preventative techniques will be helpful in the long run.”
SJMHS physical therapist, Kate Pinhey, worked with the Dexter High School girl’s basketball team and is now working with the soccer team to increase leg strength and jumping technique help prevent ACL injury.
Pinhey said as she addressed the soccer team, “Prevention is key. I’d rather be working with you right now, than to work with you in the clinic after you’ve sustained a season-ending injury.”
Coaches and athletes have used jump training, or plyometrics, since the 1970s to increase speed and power in running and jumping sports. Research has shown that jump training with an emphasis on proper technique leads to increased strength and decreased impact forces at the knee in female athletes.
Saint Joseph Mercy Health System’s SportsNet Program works with coaches, athletes and complete teams on learning proper jumping techniques and implementing jump training exercises into team conditioning practices.
“Reaching out to these girls and working with these programs is part of St. Joe’s mission of community outreach,” says Pinhey. “It’s my pleasure to be able to offer jump training to these great athletes. Not only do I hope this program will help prevent injury, but I also hope it will be preformance enhancing for the girls.”
For more information on jump training or SJMHS SportsNet, contact Kate Pinhey at 734-971-3777. For information about the Joan C. Banfield Foundation, visit www.jcbfoundation.org.