Episode 07: How to Decrease a Team’s Injuries w/ Coach Conlan Pt. 2

Coach Conlan is back with Dr. Mike Quintans to talk about the challenges of coaching high school athletics.

02:00 - Coach Conlan, as a high school basketball coach, has challenges sometimes with private school recruitment. They can recruit public school athletes and help them reclassify to get an extra year of high school. Sometimes you see kids go to three different high schools in 3 years.

06:45 - The main reason why a parent would want to move their child to multiple schools is that kids want to join powerhouse teams as well as increasing the challenges of getting a scholarship to a good school. Kids may have falling outs with coaches as well.

09:40 - High school athletes are promoted to colleges through Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), social media, highlight tapes, etc.

10:50: Overtraining and overuse is always a challenge for high school athletes. With AAU teams, you’re essentially playing for a college scholarship. If it meant sitting out of a big game, sometimes kids won’t be as open with injuries.

12:20 - If you want to play with AAU you have to know your body as an athlete. Parents, you should keep an eye out for your kids to see if they look a little off and have consistent, honest conversations with them about how they’re feeling.

13:30 - Dr. Mike Quintans pitched an idea to do 9-part basketball-specific movements that could help to predict possible injuries. They looked for weaknesses in ankles, knees, hips, etc. and gave each player specific exercises or stretches they had to do before every practice that was tailored to their weaknesses.

17:30 - The Strath Haven High School Basketball team, coached by Chris Conlan, had zero injuries this year except for a freak accident when an athlete fell and broke his wrist.

19:15 - You can always tell the kids that are doing what they’re supposed to do. They’re always on time and are rarely injured.

21:00 - Sports medicine is so important. When Coach Conlan and Dr. Mike were in high school, they might not have caught things that we can catch now. Now it’s widely understood what tightness or muscle compensation can do to the body later on. For example, a tight quad could indicate muscle compensation which could lead to a torn ligament if not treated.

23:30 - The coach should be in the loop with the athletic trainer (ATC) and be fully aware of the limitations or modifications for an athlete. On top of that, the team physician or sports medicine physician should determine what treatment should be made for the athlete and the ATC should execute the treatment (if it’s not surgical). Sometimes if an athlete goes to urgent care, communication may be muffled.

32:00 - College coaches are very interested in athletes that do well in the classroom. They care about character first, then sport. It’s tough for student-athletes because there are many challenges and distractions.