Shortly after he began working at Samaritan’s new physical therapy clinic at Sweet Home Family Medicine, veteran therapist Mark Amendola set up a training program for Sweet Home High School.
Two days a week Amendola or his colleague at Sweet Home Physical Therapy, Justin Drake, visit the high school and provide physical training and therapy consultation, to which coaches can send injured athletes to them for analysis and treatment.
The two also provide physicals, for which the school charges a fee and then spends the proceeds on sports and therapy
equipment. Last year, after 300 students underwent physical, the school was able to spend nearly $1,000 on three stationary bicycles and floatation vests that allow athletes to run in the swimming pool. That equipment was necessary to help maintain athletes’ conditioning while their injuries heal, Amendola said.
He said the sports medicine program, which is similar to others he’s started in Southern California and Montana, has two goals: to keep athletes healthy so they can play sports and prevent them from suffering damage that will be with them for the rest of their lives, and to educate parents and coaches to help prevent unnecessary aggravation of injuries.
Amendola said the U.S. Surgeon General’s office reported a few years ago that youth injuries in sports are at an “epidemic” level. Shortly thereafter, the Center for Disease Control came out with a report that one out of four high school athletes will have an injury that will keep them out of competition for at least a week.
“Sports injuries are going to occur,” he said. “But we don’t want them to become lifetime injuries. We don’t want to see a small injury that could have gotten better become a lifelong problem.”
Typical examples are shoulder and ankle sprains.
“With a typical grade 1 (minor) ankle injury, if it’s not allowed to heal, you get an unstable ankle,” Amendola said. “I’ve found seven kids here at Sweet Home who have unstable ankles. Of all the schools I’ve covered, that’s the highest number.
“The other one in high school is shoulder sprains that become dislocated shoulders. If you are under 24, if you pop your shoulder out, you have a 100 percent chance that it’s going to pop out again. We want to prevent that.”
Football Coach Rob Younger called Amendola’s services “invaluable.” He said the trainer takes the pressure off coaches who otherwise have to decide “whether a kid should practice or play or not.
“It’s so nice to have a guy with his medical background to make decisions,” Youner said. “He just comes out and says ‘This guy’s ready to go. This guy should wait a few more days.’ He’s always taking the best interest of the kids and that’s what we like, that’s what we support.”
Younger said Amendola also provides a strategic plan to get players back on the field.
“He has such a vast knowledge of rehabilitation that he has guys back as fast as he can. He has the facilities for rehabilitation. He has a direct line to the doctor. We consider him a very important part of our staff.”
Two years ago, track and cross-country star Land Florek severely sprained his ankle a month before his senior track season.
Track Coach Billy Snow said Amendola was able to have Florek healthy enough to compete during the track season and in the state finals, where Florek ran legs on two scoring relay teams and finished fourth in the 400 meter run.
“He got him through to the end of year,” Snow said. “He helped us win the state championship. We wouldn’t have been able to do without Land.”
Amendola said most coaches at Sweet Home have been cooperative and even eager to send injured athletes for help.
Snow said Amendola has been particularly helpful in dealing with more severe injuries and with injury prevention.
He noted how, when sophomore sprinter Alex Santana injured a hamstring during the 100 meter dash at the Val-Co track and field championships last spring, Amendola was in the stadium because his daughter was competing in the meet and was able to evaluate and start treatment of Santana’s injury within minutes.
“Now we have somebody who’s dealt with those more major types of injuries we don’t have experience with and knows how to deal with those kind of injuries,” Snow said.
He said Amendola has been able to help his athletes prevent injuries by recommending specific equipment and exercises, based on physical check-ups.
“We go in there, he checks a kid and says ‘this is the type of shoe that would be good for your foot.’ That’s preventative,”
Snow said. “Last spring he went in and tested 60, 70 kids for muscle imbalances. He gave them stretches to do. I’ve incorporated some of those into our stretching routine.”
Coaches and parents sometimes aren’t pleased when Amendola tells them athletes should not compete, but Snow said it usually works out for the best in the long run.
“He puts them on the shelf for a while,” Snow said, adding that, as a coach, he wants athletes healthy when it counts. “We always aim toward the end of the season. If we lose a track meet along the way, we lose a track meet. It’s the district, state track meets where everything comes to a head.”
Things don’t always work out even then, he said. Two years ago, distance runner Amanda Basham developed a case of tendonitis midway through the track season. Even with Amendola’s help, the injury curtailed Basham’s performance at state.
“Unfortunately it affected her because I couldn’t peak her the way I wanted to,” Snow said of Basham, who competed for Pacific University last year as a freshman. “But she’s still running, still enjoying it.”
“The program isn’t perfect,” Amendola said. “We’re basically a triage at the school. But we’re saving the kids money. In our first year, out of 280 visits, only four kids went to the doctor.”
The goal is to get athletes back on the court or the field as quickly as possible, but without the risk of aggravated injury. The trainers look for basic signs that an athlete is healthy enough to compete: normal strength and motion in an affected joint and the ability to “do the activity that the sport requires.”
“If you’re a wide receiver and you can’t raise your arm over your head, you can’t play,” he said. “If you’re a volleyball player and you can’t jump, you shouldn’t be out there.
“I don’t think any state championship or league championship or individual title is worth it if you’re risking an athlete’s long-term health.”
We try our best to make sure they can compete. We use therapy, taping. But my job isn’t to win championships. my job is to protect kids, period. It’s high school athletics, man. They’re not playing for UCLA, they’re not playing for the Broncos. Most of them are not trying to earn scholarships.”
Coaches and parents sometimes disagree because they want an athlete to be able to compete, “but that’s my job,” Amendola said. “I feel for coaches because I know the pressure that’s on them to win. But the balance is the kid’s health.
“I think the district, the administrators here understand that.
“Kids heal fast if you let them.”
Snow said he appreciates the chance to get expert help €“ almost any time.
“He knows what he’s doing,” Snow said. “They don’t need to be doing this. They are providing us with a great service. He sees us on weekends. He sees us out of season. It’s been awesome.”
Younger said he has full confidence in Amendola’s opinion.
“He’s giving us a direct plan every day of what we can do with that student athlete,” Younger said. “He takes the pressure off us. We don’t have the finances for a full-time trainer. He’s just giving us the benefit of having an expert in his field we can use.
“We don’t have the finances for a full-time trainer. He’s just giving us the benefit of having an expert in his field we can use.
“We have never gone against anything he said. It’s gospel to us.”