The Old Paradians’ Amateur Football Club Inc. is seeking to establish a panel of Doctors (Medical) to assist it on matchdays, to meet the ever-increasing need faced by all clubs to provide players with the best possible advice and treatment of injuries.

In amateur sports, return-to-play decisions after injury are often made by players themselves in consultation with the coach and any rehabilitation professionals to whom players might have had access. In most cases (and this is also true for professional sports), an incorrect return-to-play decision may not have significant long-term health consequences, but may lead to a recurrence of the injury. This is especially the case with the many soft-tissue injuries that are common in the football codes, where rates of recurrent injury can be as high as 30 per cent.

However, caution is needed if the injury involves a joint — especially a weight-bearing joint — as an inappropriate return-to-play decision can have significant long-term consequences, such as arthritis in the hips and knees. Athletes involved in football codes have been shown to have an incidence of hip arthritis ten times higher than age-matched controls.

The football club is therefore intending to convene a panel of doctors who are prepared to donate their time on a rotation basis on a Saturday and perhaps a week night for one hour. The club appreciates that most people are time poor and hopes that if it can establish a panel of six doctors this might at least limit the time lost.

Should you have an interest in assisting us please contact Mike Jolley on 0418 321985.

Image courtesy Damian Hannam