In each issue of The First Aider, we profile and tell the story of an athletic trainer. For this issue, you’ll get to know two athletic trainers, Jay and Anna Sedory, whose lives changed forever when they met at an NATA conference!
MEET ANNA
Anna grew up in Corona, Ca., and graduated from Corona High in 1997. As a sophomore at Cal State Fullerton, she took an introduction to athletic training class, and loved it. “I was hooked!” she says. After graduating in 2001 with a degree in kinesiology, Anna went on to the Arizona School of Health Sciences, where she earned a master’s degree in sports health care in 2003.
After getting her master’s, Anna taught and worked as an assistant athletic trainer for one year at Whittier College in Whittier, Ca. From 2004-2006 she was at Chapman University as assistant head athletic trainer and ATEP professor. From there she was hired as head athletic trainer at American River College in Sacramento.
MEET JAY
Jay’s hometown is Tucson, Az. During high school, he played sports and got to know the school’s athletic trainer, Scott Linaker. Scott inspired Jay’s career choice. After graduating in 1999, Jay attended the University of Arizona for two years, then transferred to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and graduated in 2003. While earning a master’s degree from the University of Virginia, Jay was a graduate assistant at Fork Union Military Academy—a secondary private school in Fork Union, Virginia.
After getting his master’s in 2005, Jay went to work as a head athletic trainer for the Department of Justice in Quantico, Va., working with the staff, students, and special agents of the Drug Enforcement Agency and the FBI. After working there for two years, he took a position with the United States Marine Corps, also in Quantico.
THEY MEET EACH OTHER
That summer of 2009, both Jay and Anna attended the NATA national convention in San Antonio. According to Anna, “It was the second year that the Young Professionals group met at the conference. I was asked to sit on a panel discussion for one of their meetings, and Jay was there, representing District 3.”
Jay adds, “We met and traded contact information. After the conference Anna sent me a networking email—something like, ‘Hey, nice to meet you. Look forward to talking with you some day.’ Although she still claims it was just an innocent networking email, I read between the lines and started calling her. We kept talking, and it worked out!”
Continuing the story, Anna says, “We dated cross country for two years, then in the summer of 2011 we decided I should move to Virginia. That October, he proposed on the top of Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park on the edge of West Virginia. It’s a popular hiking trail, and you can look down in the valley and see all these colors in the fall. It was beautiful and I had no idea he was going to propose! We got married Sept. 3, 2012.”
Upon moving to Virginia to be with Jay in 2011, Anna accepted a position with the Drug Enforcement Administration Training Academy. “It’s the same job Jay had before going to the Marine Corps,” Anna explains, “but it has changed somewhat since he left. Special agents go through a 4½-month program where they learn things like martial arts, firearms, boxing, wrestling, and other methods of self-defense. They also learn to break down doors and clear a room! My job is to keep them physically well so they can complete the program. It’s a challenge, because they wear 40-pound tactical vests and train for 12 hours a day.”
AN IMPRESSIVE PAIR
Anna and Jay are passionate about their careers and about contributing to the athletic training profession. Jay is a licensed EMT and volunteers for the county rescue squad. He is certified as a tactical medic and is an instructor for the Counter Terrorism and Operational Medicine Support program. He’s in his second year as president of the Virginia Athletic Trainer’s Association; serves on the BOC reinstatement committee; serves on the BOC Role of Delineation Study; and is an adjunct instructor at George Mason University.
Anna teaches at Germanna Community College, is the District 3 Chair/National Committee member for the NATA Governmental Affairs Committee; a member of NATA’s Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer committee; on the Virginia Athletic Trainer’s Association scholarship committee; and serves on the BOC’s Athletic Training Regulatory Conference Advisory Panel.
“We also enjoy going to state, district, and national conferences together,” Jay says. “We don’t have a ton of free time, but we’re fortunate that neither of us travels with our jobs. We like going to movies, backpacking and hiking, and occasionally running 5Ks and half marathons.”
“It’s been a wild ride,” Anna says. “Jay never wanted to date another athletic trainer, and I don’t know if it was super high on my list either. That NATA meeting when we met, I was just excited to see my friends. I had just bought a house in Sacramento, and thought I’d live there a long time. I never imagined I’d meet my future husband there!” Read More
The majority of athletes included in a new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine were able to return to play after having knee surgery to repair an ACL injury.
In addition, the study found that athletes who had ACL surgery when they were in high school or younger were much more likely to suffer repeat ACL reinjuries than athletes who experienced their first ACL injury during collegiate play. "It's very clear from our data that the younger the elite athlete, the higher risk for reinjury,” said Ganesh M.V. Kamath, MD, assistant professor of orthopaedics in the UNC School of Medicine and lead author of the study.
“It's clear that these kids are going to get back to playing sports at a higher level, but there is something in their makeup that puts them at high risk for tearing the ACL in the same or the other knee again. Once the athlete gets past adolescence, this risk seems to go way down."
The study, published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, is believed to be the first to systematically examine the return to play and reinjury rates among elite Division I college athletes after ACL surgery.
The researchers performed a retrospective medical chart review of all UNC athletes from 2000 to 2009 who had ACL surgery. A total of 89 men and women athletes from several varsity-level sports were included. Thirty-five had ACL reconstruction as precollegiates while 54 had ACL surgery during college.
The return to play rates were almost identical in both groups: athletes in the precollegiate group used 78 percent of their total playing eligibility after injury while athletes in the intracollegiate group used 77 percent. In addition, 88.3 percent of those in the intracollegiate group played an additional non-redshirt year after their injury.
The two groups were very different, though, when reinjury and reoperation rates were compared. The precollegiate group had a 17.1 percent injury rate with their original ACL surgery with a 20 percent rate of an ACL injury in the other knee, compared to 1.9 percent and 11 percent for the collegiate group. In addition, the reoperation rate for the precollegiate group, at 51.4 percent, was more than twice as high than the 20.4 percent reoperation rate in the collegiate group.
"This is the next necessary area of focused research in ACL surgery,” Kamath said. “We know that the vast majority of people do well, but unfortunately there are a select few, oftentimes, the best athletes, who go on to reinjure themselves and require a second surgery.”In addition to Dr . Kamath, authors of the study are Jeffrey T. Spang, MD, Timothy Murphy, MD; R. Alexander Creighton, MD; Neal Viradia, MD; and Timothy N. Taft, MD. All are from the UNC School of Medicine.
UNC is also one of the study sites participating in the Multicenter ACL Revision Study (MARS). The MARS study, which is based at Vanderbilt University, is aimed at identifying clinically useful predictors of outcome that may inform practice decisions and improve revision ACL reconstruction outcomes.
Earlier this year a research paper from the MARS group won the O'Donoghue Sports Injury Research Award. The award is given by the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine to the best overall paper which deals with clinical based research or human in-vivo research.
“Our inclusion in the MARS group allows us to collaborate with other surgeons and lead the way in how to take care of these complicated patients,” said Dr. Spang, assistant professor of orthopaedics at UNC. “Multicenter collaborative research like this is a must in order to stay on the forefront of ACL reconstruction outcomes." Read More
All of us at Cramer bid a fond farewell to Tom Rogge, who retired on Sept. 30 after 23 years as the company’s president and CEO. Rob Mogolov is Cramer’s new leader, and has been appointed to the newly created position of general manager.
As president, Tom successfully led the company out of a five-year sales slump, and in 1995 received the Ernst & Young Turnaround Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Kansas and Western Missouri region. That same year, Cramer received the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Blue Chip Enterprise Award, recognizing small businesses for their dedication, resourcefulness, and perseverance. Rogge is former board member and chairman of the Sports and Fitness Industry Association. Under his leadership, Cramer acquired Cosom Sporting Goods in 2004, Active Ankle in 2008, and Stromgren Athletics in 2011. In 2013 the company merged with Performance Health.
“This is a time for everyone within Cramer and Performance Health, and even across the entire athletic training and sports medicine universe, to pause, honor, and express gratitude to Tom Rogge for more than two decades of dedicated service to his company, to the Cramer brand and to the profession,” said Marshall Dahneke, chief executive officer of Performance Health. “Since Cramer’s founding more than 95 years ago, Tom is only the company’s sixth president and he has had the longest tenure of anyone outside the Cramer family. Tom and his team have accomplished great things during his years of leadership.”
Rex Sharp, head athletic trainer at the University of Missouri, and a former member of Cramer’s advisory board, said, “The leadership and vision that Tom Rogge has provided at the helm of Cramer Products has been an invaluable resource to the profession of athletic training. Tom has dedicated the better part of his professional career to continuing the mission of Cramer Products, a company that embodies the founding fathers of the profession of Athletic Training, and which has always made a commitment to excellence and provided resources toward the education and development of the athletic training student. Tom is a team player, and a natural motivator. The example he provides sets the tone for the expectations Tom has of himself and those that work around him. Tom is uncompromising in his professional values and work ethic. His unique leadership style both mobilizes and embraces those who work for and support him. On behalf of the entire Athletic Training Staff at MIZZOU, and athletic trainers everywhere, I wish Tom Rogge a well-deserved and blissful retirement.”
Rob Hunt, another former member of Cramer’s advisory board and head athletic trainer at the University of Notre Dame, said, “I have enjoyed getting to know Tom through the company’s advisory board. Tom is wonderful leader who listens more than he speaks. His attention to the concerns and ideas of athletic trainers served not only Cramer, but each of us working in the field. Congratulations on your retirement and thank you for your leadership and service to athletic trainers.”
Kim Terrell, who also has served on Cramer’s advisory board, said, “Tom is a strong, effective leader who takes personal interest in those he comes in contact with, always demonstrating sincere concern, respect, and caring for others. He will be missed!”
Before leaving the company, Tom said, “It has been a tremendous experience, personally and professionally, to continue the legacy that the Cramer brothers started 95 years ago. Throughout my 23 years with the company, I woke up every morning and thanked my lucky stars that we represented a brand with such a stellar reputation. The team I’ve worked with at Cramer is outstanding from top to bottom. There is a company-wide commitment to quality and service, and that employee dedication was the cornerstone of our growth over the last 20 years. It is difficult to say good-bye, but I am leaving the company in very good hands. From the day Rob walked through our door nine years ago, we knew he was a super star. I’m very proud of Rob and happy for him. He’s got a terrific team to work with and will do a great job.”
Tom and his wife, Kim plan to spend as much time as possible with their adult children and their spouses, and three beautiful grandchildren. Congratulations on a stellar career, Tom! Good luck, best wishes, and have fun! Read More
You’re undoubtedly familiar with Biofreeze. The topical analgesic was created by a medical professional who wanted to help alleviate his grandmother’s arthritis pain. With its cooling 10 percent menthol formulation, Biofreeze provides quick and effective pain relief. It’s great for treating sore muscles and muscle sprains; easing back, shoulder and neck pain; reducing painful ankle, knee, hip and elbow joints; helping to lessen the effects of muscular strains; and of course, treating arthritis pain.
Biofreeze was originally created as a gel. Now, there’s Biofreeze 360°, the same formula in a spray that offers hands-free, rapid application. Like the gel, Biofreeze 360° is dye-free and colorless, greaseless and non-staining with a vanishing scent, and 100 percent paraben-free and propylene glycol-free. And as the name suggests, Biofreeze 360° works from any angle—even upside down.
The Biofreeze formula is clinically proven to be more effective than ice for muscle soreness, and it assists in post-performance and post-injury recovery. Jason Eckerle, assistant director of sports medicine and head athletic trainer for ice hockey at Miami University, likes Biofreeze 360° for those reasons, and more.
“Our guys use the Biofreeze 360° spray before practice and pre-game, to loosen muscles and relieve any aches and pains they may have,” Jason says. “Since it sprays from any angle, they can apply it themselves. We’ve got a large roster for ice hockey--27 players. With that many guys, it takes a lot of time to take gloves on and off to apply gel every time it’s needed. The spray bottle is a lot easier and faster, and I don’t have to worry about using a glove or getting it on my hands.”
Jason also sends Biofreeze 360°on the road with the golf team. “I don’t travel with the golf team,” he explains, “and it’s easy for the golfers to apply it themselves. Using the spray, nothing slippery or oily gets on their hands or gloves. The 360° is just as effective as the gel Biofreeze, but easier to apply and less mess.”
Biofreeze is a proprietary herbal blend that is not tested on animals, and is manufactured in the USA. The 4 fluid ounce size fits perfectly in your kit! For more information about Biofreeze 360°, click here. Read More