Courtsey of World of Soccer  In the practice section this month, we start a series by Marc Rizzardo that I think every coach needs to read. As you'll see from Marc's bio he has great knowledge and experience as a soccer coach, but it is in his real life, that of a physiotherapist, that Marc can bring expert help to the soccer coach because of his knowledge of injuries, rehabilitation and avoidance of injuries. Most of us who coach soccer are not medical experts and yet we find ourselves in situations that need our action.  This can be incredibly dangerous to the players in our charge.  So we need to have a plan. This practice section, and Marc's subsequent articles, is for every coach - irrespective of the age group they may be coaching - and particularly those who have limitations in the do's and don'ts surrounding injuries and fitness.

Be Clear of Your Role

 One of the first things a coach should do is make sure he knows his role on the team.  Although almost every coach feels he has to be able to do everything, one area to be very clear about is who is to look after the injuries and the injured player.

Ideally, a coach should take a basic first aid course.  At the same time, he should find a parent/guardian who will be attending most of the team activities and have the parent get themselves certified in basic first aid.  (Many times the team manager is a great choice for this task).

From the moment the team volunteer is certified they are in charge of injuries during the practices and games.  Thus, if a player goes down and the referee calls someone onto the field to look at the player, it should NOT be the coach.  Most coaches have too much invested emotionally in the game and are not OBJECTIVE enough to properly determine if the player should continue or seek further assessment.

Once the player is removed from the field of play he should be allowed to play ONLY when they can fully use the injured limb or area (like an eye) completely and WITHOUT pain.  For example, if the player has taken a knock on the thigh they must be able to do a full squat, sprint and jump with NO pain before re-entering the game.  If the player has been injured to the point that a professional sports health care provider has been consulted, the player should ONLY return to play with the written permission of a sports health care practitioner, such as a sports physiotherapist, athletic therapist or sports physician. 

n the practice section this month, we start a series by Marc Rizzardo that I think every coach needs to read. As you'll see from Marc's bio he has great knowledge and experience as a soccer coach, but it is in his real life, that of a physiotherapist, that Marc can bring expert help to the soccer coach because of his knowledge of injuries, rehabilitation and avoidance of injuries.  Most of us who coach soccer are not medical experts and yet we find ourselves in situations that need our action.  This can be incredibly dangerous to the players in our charge.  So we need to have a plan.

This practice section, and Marc's subsequent articles, is for every coach - irrespective of the age group they may be coaching - and particularly those who have limitations in the do's and don'ts surrounding injuries and fitness.

The player should also have been given instructions on how to GRADUALLY return to his sport, meaning that returning to full action in a competitive game is not the ideal.  The return to play could take a matter of days, weeks or months, depending on the severity and type of injury.

In summary the coach should never pressure the player to return to play.  Pressure can come in many forms and include mocking the player for being ‘soft', threaten to bench the player once they do return, mention that the team would stand a much better chance of winning if only he was playing, or not allowing the injured player to watch practices or games. 

The coach needs to be supportive in allowing the player to return in a gradual fashion and to follow the guidelines outlined by the health care professional.  Many times the injured player can wear a special coloured pinnie to earmark for the rest of the team that he is injured.  In most instances, the player cannot be tackled in a practice session.  To avoid any type of advantage he can be labeled the libero, meaning that he will always play for the attacking team or used in some other type of non-contact fashion.

Editors Note - In the next World of Soccer Newsletter I will give you a more detailed bio of Marc Rizzardo so that we can see the extent of his coaching experience.  In the meantime, this media release from the last year will give you a pretty good idea of Marc's qualifications.

Marc Rizzardo - The Canadian Olympic Committee announced yesterday that Burnaby Physiotherapist Marc Rizzardo was selected as Chief Therapist (CT) for the 2010 Olympic Games. Marc is the co-owner/operator of Metrotown Physiotherapy and is also a member of the SportMedBC Board of Directors. He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Sports Physiotherapy and has been a long time soccer coach at the university, provincial and national levels. Marc was the Chief Therapist for the COC at the 2007 Pan American Games and more recently was a member of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Health & Science team. Marc will be paired with 2010 Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bob McCormack for the Vancouver Winter Olympics and over the next 15 months they will be familiarizing themselves with the various Integrated Support Teams assigned to the winter sports slated to compete in February of 2010.