鈥淥n the Mark鈥� podcast transcript with Nathan Wilder and Mary Nadelen
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Narrator
You're listening to a Towson University podcast.
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President Ginsberg
Welcome to on the Mark, where we have candid conversations about meaningful and consequential work happening here at Towson University. I'm Mark Ginsberg. It's my honor to serve as president of Towson University located, of course, in Towson, Maryland. And on this podcast, we're introducing you to members of our university community who are engaged in high-impact teaching, research and student success practices.
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President Ginsberg
Today, I'm joined by two special guests, Nathan Wilder and Mary Nadelen, two leaders in our sports medicine arena here at Towson University. Nathan is our senior athletic director for sports medicine and performance, serving as our head athletic trainer for two years, 19 Division I varsity intercollegiate athletic teams. He has more than 30 years of professional training experience, ranging from high school athletics to the NFL.
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President Ginsberg
Mary Nadelen is a clinical associate professor in TU鈥檚 Department of Kinesiology specializing in athletic training education. In addition to being an educator, she also has worked as a professional athletic trainer, including working in collegiate sports as well as being a trainer for the U.S. national lacrosse teams. Nathan and Mary, thank you for being here. And welcome.
00:01:20:14 - 00:01:33:03
President Ginsberg
Great to have you here. Maybe we can start off with kind of a general question to just tell us a little bit about what the roles of athletic trainers are and, and some of the important settings that athletic trainers are working in today.
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Mary Nadelen
Well, athletic training as a profession is an allied health care profession. And what is really important for folks to know is that we are responsible for the health care of the athletes. And athletes can come in many different forms. Youth athletes, athletes that may be in the rodeo circuit with just in sports medicine, athletes that you think of traditionally on the sidelines, playing collegiate sports, playing youth sports, rec sports also.
00:01:59:07 - 00:02:22:03
Mary Nadelen
Then it can be in the athlete who is a firefighter or first responder. There are many, many different forms of an athlete or a person who is athletic. Our role as an athletic trainer is to really care for those individuals to assess and prevent injuries from happening. So we have many, many roles as an athletic trainer.
00:02:22:05 - 00:02:37:07
President Ginsberg
And athletic training. The program has transitioned in recent years to become a graduate program. So your students are coming in with degrees in exercise science or the health sciences and then taking advanced training and in sports medicine.
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Mary Nadelen
Yes, you're absolutely correct.
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Nathan Wilder
And I was going to say that even though maybe a lot of people who have been involved in sport might gravitate this way, but I think we're seeing with this master's level program that there's people who might have zero background in sport and they're just really interested in physical medicine. The specialization of working with maybe injured people, but also the healthy population, physically active individuals are who we specialize in dealing with versus maybe a health care profession that deals with more co-morbidity or disabled type populations.
00:03:13:14 - 00:03:22:20
Nathan Wilder
So I don't think having a sports background is necessary at all to be in this field, but it does tend to be the common, I think one of the common factors that people get into it for.
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President Ginsberg
It seems like athletic trainers are working in all kinds of settings today, not just with athletic teams, but in orthopedic practices and rehabilitation settings and other places.
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Mary Nadelen
It鈥檚 becoming more and more common. I think traditionally you will see us working with athletes, but yes, there are settings where athletic trainers are branching out to help those physically active people prevent injuries. A very good skill set of ours is to be able to return them to their functioning activity.
00:03:55:04 - 00:04:11:18
President Ginsberg
I've learned that there about 59,000 certified athletic trainers in the country. About 42% of those work at colleges and 麻豆传媒高清, but a growing number are working at the secondary level or at the primary school level, working with athletes who are below the collegiate level.
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Mary Nadelen
Yes. And there is an absolute need for that. There is a really large push to make sure that high schools have athletic trainers.
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President Ginsberg
Right.
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Nathan Wilder
I was going to say on that on that note, it's really interesting because what we know of the profession from its early days is that a lot of the higher ed or the professional teams might have been the first people to have of sport. But when we talk about prevention of injury, it's almost like you got to flip it upside down.
00:04:41:08 - 00:05:06:16
Nathan Wilder
It's almost like you wish you would provide all your resources at the lower level. So we could protectively build these individuals up and maybe not be so injured when they get to college or professional level. I know there's a huge push to put athletic trainers in every high school and to find ways to have a health care system amongst the youth.
00:05:06:18 - 00:05:20:08
President Ginsberg
So picking up on two issues you mentioned, one is collaboration. I know that you as AT鈥檚 collaborate with other health professionals, both in the physical health space as well as the behavioral health space with your student-athletes. Talk a little bit about those collaborative relationships that cities have.
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Nathan Wilder
At Towson, internally we have a few: the dietitian is one, mental health counselor is another, orthopedic surgeon, primary care physician, strength and conditioning coach, chiropractor, massage therapist. This is really trying to find ways to have a holistic approach towards managing the needs and concerns of a student-athlete or a patient.
00:05:44:17 - 00:05:58:22
Nathan Wilder
All of those cross collaborations really creates an environment where all of the needs of that individual can get met. Because there are some physical needs, obviously, from an injury, their own mental needs, their own nutritional needs, etc..
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President Ginsberg
So you're working from a really interdisciplinary perspective. I want to come back to something you said a minute ago, and Mary you may have a thought about this too. Is getting an athlete back to baseline is part of your role to rehab? In other words, how do you begin to assess when an athlete's ready to return to play?
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Mary Nadelen
Yeah, it's.
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President Ginsberg
A tough issue I bet.
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Mary Nadelen
You said the word interdisciplinary, when Nathan was talking about working with different health care professionals. Us working on the education side and the clinical side is very important as well. And so when you're talking about rehabilitation, that is part of our curriculum. But you have to really know the mechanics of the injury. You have to know what caused the injury.
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Mary Nadelen
Was it overuse? Was it acute? Was it a micro trauma or a macro trauma? And so learning about what caused the injury and then knowing the body really well, knowing the body in regards to, well, if I put this joint in a loose packed position or an open packed position, how can I help facilitate that healing? Right?
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Mary Nadelen
Because like Nathan mentioned, if you do nothing, well, that ankle isn't going to get stronger. So it's really understanding the healing process at the physiological level, which we do. And then it's understanding how to implement right the load or to reset the injury and then to load it appropriately when it's ready to adapt to those loads.
00:07:20:17 - 00:07:34:18
Mary Nadelen
And that is part of our curriculum. But that's a really big part of that, though, is knowing how the body works and working with clinicians.
00:07:34:19 - 00:07:50:19
President Ginsberg
It seems like we've come a long way as a society to or where maybe when I was a youth, there was a tremendous push to get athletes back to playing. Maybe before they were ready. But now it seems like you've got a lot of control over that. The sports medicine professionals have more control over those decisions.
00:07:50:22 - 00:08:07:13
Nathan Wilder
Kind of to piggyback on what Mary was saying is that evaluating all of that is really, cutting edge now. We have tools to manage load. And so we're really putting objective data, towards that whether it be acceleration, deceleration, whether it be the distance that someone runs, the speed of someone runs.
00:08:07:15 - 00:08:15:03
Nathan Wilder
We don't have to guess anymore. When I was a younger athletic trainer, it was kind of the eye test that they're not limping. They're not in pain.
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President Ginsberg
Yeah.
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Nathan Wilder
And but now.
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President Ginsberg
It's more data based.
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Nathan Wilder
It's data based in strength levels. It's, force plate, initiatives where we're actually putting people through functional assessment that actually say they are back to baseline. And part of our process here at Towson University with our student-athletes is to have them go through. When I come through as a freshman, they go through a physical and part of that physical is not just general medical and orthopedic, but it's performance baseline testing.
00:08:42:12 - 00:08:57:04
Nathan Wilder
And we do that from mental training to their nutrition intake to their ability to move. How well they move, their flexibility, their strength. And all of that gets collaborated holistically and multidisciplinary to drive the decisions we make when they do have an injury.
00:08:57:04 - 00:09:22:06
President Ginsberg
Let's segue for a little bit, because you all work, a lot in your practices with highly trained, competitive athletes at the Division I collegiate level. But I'm told that there are more than 3.5 million children every year under the age of 14 who receive medical treatment for sports injuries. So let's talk a little bit about youth sports and what parents should know, what youth coaches should know.
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President Ginsberg
And not just how we identify and treat sport injuries in youth, but how can we go about preventing them. What are some of your thoughts about that?
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Mary Nadelen
That is a question that has many, many layers. Because you're right, like youth sport has really, especially in this area. There are kids playing multiple different sports.
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President Ginsberg
Everywhere you look.
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Mary Nadelen
Everywhere you look. And so it really is trying to find that balance. And that's hard sometimes because this young athlete is doing this and this young athlete is doing that. So it's really trying to figure out what's the right load for your young developing athlete. A very general rule of thumb is that.
00:10:06:02 - 00:10:12:05
Mary Nadelen
The age they are is the amount of hours they can compete in per week.
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President Ginsberg
Interesting.
00:10:14:13 - 00:10:17:12
President Ginsberg
A 10-year-old should really be competing no more than 10 hours.
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Mary Nadelen
Ten hours of organized sports. Certainly we want them out running and playing and jumping and doing things that they should be doing on a playground that aren't organized and structured. But I try to use that when folks do ask me, well, how much should my kid be doing? And then you have to listen as they're going through a growth spurt.
00:10:35:15 - 00:11:07:21
Mary Nadelen
And we know that as parents that when the kids start eating a lot or sleeping a little bit more, that there's probably a growth spurt occurring there. And when that's happening, if you load a body that is changing, that may make them a little bit more susceptible to injury. We also know that, and we're looking through some things and this is not reported data yet, but something that we're working on with colleagues is that you really see that a young athlete or a less mature athlete, because we know chronological age and biological age are not necessarily the same.
00:11:07:23 - 00:11:08:05
President Ginsberg
Yeah especially in athletics.
00:11:08:11 - 00:11:12:20
Mary Nadelen
The 13-year-old looks. That's right. That's a good point. and so.
00:11:12:23 - 00:11:14:04
President Ginsberg
Development is a continuum.
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Mary Nadelen
It is a continuum. And you really have to assess that. Well, not every 15-year-old should now be lifting weights. Nope. Where is that 15-year-old in their biological age? And so what we really know is that they have to be able to move well before we are allowed to load that individual.
00:11:31:14 - 00:11:32:04
President Ginsberg
Yeah.
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Mary Nadelen
Yeah. So working on fundamentals and movement is really important to decreasing the amount of injury that happens.
00:11:40:22 - 00:12:02:04
President Ginsberg
And it would seem that youth injuries during that youth period are so important for the future. Dr. James Andrews, the noted orthopedic surgeon, recently was quoted as saying youth sport injuries are not just about sprains and strains, but they have lifelong consequences. That's a pretty significant thing to be said by an orthopedic surgeon of his renown.
00:12:02:05 - 00:12:24:02
Nathan Wilder
We see that when we do physicals on our collegiate athletes. And I do think that, to Mary's point, I would say that the mobility is really important because you don't want to load somebody who doesn't really move well because that creates compensation patterns.
00:12:24:02 - 00:12:44:18
Nathan Wilder
It creates breakdown, it creates imbalances. And those are the things that lead to injury. And what we know from the data is that anyone who does have an injury, the number one thing that's going to cause a re-injury is that injury. So if you did have a knee sprain as a high school or a youth athlete, you're probably more likely to have an injury to that knee as a collegiate athlete.
00:12:44:20 - 00:13:05:17
Nathan Wilder
I think where we've kind of gone rogue in our sport culture is that we just think everybody's going to make the professional leagues. Early specialization has led to repetitive training and not this multidisciplinary sports. I mean, I was a three to four sport athlete as a high school kid.
00:13:05:19 - 00:13:18:08
Nathan Wilder
But kids today are specializing in lacrosse or specializing in baseball pitching or specializing in football. And they run with that. And that, over time, has led to some difficult injury consequences.
00:13:18:08 - 00:13:29:12
President Ginsberg
And there's some notable groups that have been talking about this. The American Academy of Pediatrics, for example, recently said that half of all youth sports injuries are due to overuse. That means that they're probably preventable.
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Mary Nadelen
Right. And it's overuse of very similar motions.
00:13:32:23 - 00:13:33:19
President Ginsberg
Repetitive motions.
00:13:33:19 - 00:13:49:07
Mary Nadelen
Yes, exactly. I love the idea that in the fall we play one sport, in the winter we play a different sport, and that fall season doesn't then merge into your winter season can kind of keep going into the spring.
00:13:49:11 - 00:13:52:10
Mary Nadelen
We stop and we play something different, so we don't have that repetitive.
00:13:52:10 - 00:13:58:18
President Ginsberg
Competitive nature of youth. Sports has become really hyper competitive for some kids. Yes, right. Hyper competitive.
00:13:58:19 - 00:14:03:09
Nathan Wilder
And that's because they鈥檙e chasing the dream, you know, they're all chasing the dream that we all maybe had at one time.
00:14:03:11 - 00:14:15:05
President Ginsberg
All right. Are there things about the youth period that make youth athletes more vulnerable to injury? If you talk to them about overuse, some of them may be coaching. Some of it may be idiosyncratic to the person. What are some of those factors?
00:14:15:06 - 00:14:35:04
Mary Nadelen
Well, I certainly I think as children go through growth spurts where the bones grow, the muscles then have to stretch to accommodate that growth in the bones. And so tendon injuries or, you'll hear of like an Osgood Schlatter鈥檚 at the knee where the quadriceps tendons are pulling. And you'll have a similar type of injury at the ankle.
00:14:35:06 - 00:14:52:23
Mary Nadelen
And so those injuries are due to growth spurts. And it's hard to know when a kid is actually growing. But you have to listen. Hey, I'm a little achy or I'm a little bit more sore. Well then maybe we just decrease the volume a little bit while they're growing, while they're a little sore. And that could ultimately really decrease.
00:14:53:05 - 00:15:06:14
Mary Nadelen
Yes, tendonitis or a tendinopathy, but also you wouldn't want it to go as far as to be pulling on that bone so hard that you have a real injury that now needs three to four weeks of pure rest to allow that bone to then heal.
00:15:06:15 - 00:15:30:18
President Ginsberg
Right? Yeah. Let me pick up on that theme for a second. The Centers for Disease Control says that injury prevention starts with education and that education should be for parents, coaches, but also for youth athletes. So with that in mind, what are some of the most effective injury prevention strategies that you might be able to talk about and help parents to put into place with their kids, as you move into the fall sports season?
00:15:30:23 - 00:15:52:05
Mary Nadelen
I think we're really fortunate that there are jump landing programs or ACL preventative programs. Now, those are very specific. Yeah, right. But ultimately it comes back to where Nathan has used the word mobility. And I've used the word movement. It really comes down to can the child move.
00:15:52:05 - 00:16:15:15
Mary Nadelen
And so it's teaching the children the fundamentals. Allowing coaches to recognize that sidestepping and back pedaling and high knees are where we need to start with these young athletes before we load and start going to very, very sports specific skills. And so trying to prevent injuries there's many different types of programs.
00:16:15:15 - 00:16:41:15
Mary Nadelen
I can't necessarily speak to just one that says, hey, this is going to solve your problem and not allow you to get injured. It is teaching parents that the variety and listening to the body as it grows and develops is really important. If there is a weakness or a movement competency that needs help. Finding the appropriate coach or finding the appropriate person to help that individual move through that movement pattern.
00:16:41:18 - 00:17:02:02
President Ginsberg
Your professional association, the National Athletic Trainers Association, wrote the best injury is the one that never happens. Prevention is always better than treatment. As you're saying. But, also the American Academy of Pediatrics recently said that proper warmups, adequate rest and cross-training are more effective than any brace or bandage. Talk a little bit about those kinds of things.
00:17:02:06 - 00:17:10:18
President Ginsberg
What is a proper warmup, a proper cooldown? What should young athletes think about doing in order to be preventive of injury from that perspective?
00:17:10:18 - 00:17:31:20
Mary Nadelen
I think the greatest part about teaching athletes about a proper warmup is we can kind of tackle two obstacles at once. We can prepare the body for physical activity, but we can start working on some of those foundational movements. So if someone's going to go out and move and run and cut, we don't want them just standing still and touching their toes, right?
00:17:31:20 - 00:17:47:11
Mary Nadelen
We want those muscles moving while they warm up in a controlled environment. So a dynamic warmup where we walk and touch our toes and then we walk and do a butt kick and then we do some light jogging. But through that we can be teaching them how to function or how to properly do a launch .
00:17:47:11 - 00:18:08:00
Mary Nadelen
We can be teaching them how to properly do a back pedal. We can be really looking at some of those foundational movements while we're warming up the body. So that's a great way to do that, is to introduce motion in a controlled manner and to build on that before they then go out and compete in that athletic competition or that athletic sport.
00:18:08:05 - 00:18:28:03
Nathan Wilder
I would agree. I mean, it's really important to know that the movement is fundamental and it's neurologically wired. Has anybody ever seen their 2-year-old squat? They squat down and they pick up their toys and they have no problem doing that. But if you ask a 16-year-old to do that, they struggle.
00:18:28:03 - 00:18:58:01
Nathan Wilder
And so you can see over time how that happens. So in those dynamic warmups, that's really important in the beginning phase of training. And the warmup piece also is about stabilization and activation of those muscles they're going to be using most frequently. And then they go through a progressive, intensity load through their workout per se, and then recovery on the back end, which maybe that is, looking at the deficit, they might have lengthening and muscles that may be more static.
00:18:58:03 - 00:19:23:03
Nathan Wilder
And then, just like a multidisciplinary is putting in the calories back end and the hydration back end, which also has injury prevention. So eating and sleeping are probably the two things that are most important to injury prevention. Making sure they have adequate sleep, adequate rest. Their mind is clear, it's not foggy, and that they are taking in adequate calories, which we see a huge issue with even at the collegiate level.
00:19:23:04 - 00:19:48:06
President Ginsberg
And hydration. As you mentioned, hydration is really important. Speaking of hydration, we're here at the end of the summer period that many youth teams are beginning to work up again. We hear a lot about heat related injuries. Talk a little bit about preventing heat related injuries, but also, what are some of the signs, red flags that that coaches, parents and kids who are playing youth sports can look for during this very difficult time of early season practices during the heat.
00:19:48:06 - 00:20:15:14
Mary Nadelen
Yes. There have been tremendous advancements in the education of everyone in regards to heat. Obviously the days are getting a little bit warmer. We noticed that. And so really allowing folks to understand what he looks like and how a heat when you've been in the heat too long, what that looks like. As athletic trainers, we are trained to look for a couple things, but really looking for, you know, that CNS dysfunction.
00:20:15:16 - 00:20:51:06
Mary Nadelen
And then also looking at their core temperature. Now we recognize that not everyone can assess someone's core temperature, how we are trained to do that. But those are two ways for us to know immediately if someone really needs immediate care and help to lower their body temperature. But things that we can do to teach youth sports is, you know, more frequent water breaks, to get out of the heat when they are able to cold towels, to continue to try and bring the body temperature down a little bit in between sessions, will help folks kind of accommodate, or acclimate to that environment.
00:20:51:06 - 00:20:58:21
Mary Nadelen
Now, I do bring up a really important word which is acclimate, meaning that you have to get used to the environment you're going to play in. And that's really important.
00:20:58:21 - 00:20:59:16
President Ginsberg
Interesting.
00:20:59:18 - 00:21:21:03
Mary Nadelen
With some of our fall sports starting, there are very specific protocols about how long it takes to acclimate and how long you should be in that environment before you then put on a helmet before you put on pads. And people really need to know that, if it's been cool and all of a sudden it's really warm, your body is not going to adapt as quickly as it should because you're not used to it.
00:21:21:04 - 00:21:27:12
President Ginsberg
So there's some reason that high school football players aren't in pads for the first week or two of practice. There's some rationale for that.
00:21:27:12 - 00:21:49:09
Nathan Wilder
Yes. Correct. The NCAA has legislated collegiate football and acclimatization up to seven days, required, progression of adding pads and rest days. We've even taken an extra step here at Towson University where we look at athletes and what their sweat rates are, how much fluid they're putting out, how much electrolyte they're losing.
00:21:49:09 - 00:21:50:05
President Ginsberg
Very data-based.
00:21:50:05 - 00:22:07:08
Nathan Wilder
Yeah. And we're able to then educate the student-athlete on what to put back in. Because the number one thing that drives heat illness is actually the environment and the intensity of the exercise. So if it is a hot and humid day, humid meaning more moisture in the air, your body is not going to sweat as well.
00:22:07:08 - 00:22:25:18
Nathan Wilder
You're not going to dissipate heat as well. And then if that intensity of exercise is at a very high level, those are potential catastrophic type situations. So we monitor that on a daily basis. We look at the temperature and the humidity and we talk through our coaching plan on what the practice is going to look like.
00:22:25:18 - 00:22:42:06
Nathan Wilder
And if we have to modify that, we do. Mary brought up water breaks, obviously, and rest periods in and out of the heat. We have a lots of ability with our athletic training staff on the field to manage those. But from a youth sport perspective, it's really just, again, listening and watching.
00:22:42:06 - 00:22:59:20
President Ginsberg
So heat related illnesses are nothing to鈥ou need to take these things seriously. It's a very serious matter. In the old days, coaches would say, work harder and then you can get a break. But those days, I think, are pretty much gone. We've come to understand that heat related illnesses can be catastrophic.
00:22:59:21 - 00:23:16:06
President Ginsberg
Yes. And we need to pay attention to it. We'll talk again about some of the specific signs and symptoms, just to repeat them, that coaches and parents sort of look for.
00:23:16:07 - 00:23:23:21
Nathan Wilder
Well, first of all, they could start cramping at a very low level. Your muscle cramps in the calf or quads or sometimes in the abdomen.
00:23:24:01 - 00:23:26:14
President Ginsberg
And we see that in professional sports. Yeah. Yeah.
00:23:26:16 - 00:23:44:14
Nathan Wilder
That could be for two reasons. One, it could be electrolyte depletion or actually it could be over drinking. A lot of people don't understand that actually drinking too much water can also be catastrophic. So it's important to follow the guidelines of, you know, taking in, you know, you know, 7 to 10 ounces of fluid every 15 minutes.
00:23:44:14 - 00:24:02:11
Nathan Wilder
I mean, you don't need a ton. I think a lot of times in the heat, people want to guzzle fluid, but you don't really need to do that. But you need to make sure you understand how much weight you're losing. other signs are going to be dizziness, nausea. Sometimes the skin will get red and flash. You might feel overheated.
00:24:02:13 - 00:24:21:01
Nathan Wilder
The big the red flag, like Mary said, is any type of cognitive decline when a student-athlete starts feeling dizzy, lightheaded and they don't remember things, or they their body starts to act in a way that is uncharacteristic of that person's personality. Those are major red flags that we need to intervene.
00:24:21:02 - 00:24:23:10
President Ginsberg
Important, important warning signs for parents to understand.
00:24:23:22 - 00:24:40:09
Mary Nadelen
And I'd like to add one thing. I think a lot of folks will be like, oh, they'll stop sweating. And that's when I worry. That's really hard to determine because if you think about yourself, you're sweating and then you might be putting a wet towel or you might be pouring water on you. That's a really hard, criteria to go against.
00:24:40:09 - 00:24:47:10
Mary Nadelen
So it really comes down to, is this person acting differently? Have they been working out? Is it a humid environment we need to really assess.
00:24:47:10 - 00:25:09:20
Nathan Wilder
And what's going to drive that. And this is real. There's a study that was done with NHL hockey players. And what really drives that symptom, those symptoms is core temperature. There's been studies that have shown that NHL ice hockey players have core temperatures of 104 degrees on the ice in their intensity of exercise and be asymptomatic.
00:25:09:22 - 00:25:34:19
Nathan Wilder
However, when their body cannot process that core temperature, most people think if you have a 104 temperature, you're sick, you don't feel good, sure. But as exercise intensity with high metabolic process and muscle mass goes up, temperature is going to rise. Whenever the body gets to the point where it says, okay, I'm at a level that you know, I don't really like, and all of a sudden it's not able to handle it and it shoots up even higher.
00:25:34:19 - 00:25:52:18
Nathan Wilder
You're going to start to get that cognitive decline. You're going to get that dizziness and lightheadedness. And so the lay person might not have the ability to understand what the temperature is because it is core temperature. Like Mary said, you can't use an oral thermometer to measure that. That is a two- to three-degree difference. You could be way off the mark.
00:25:52:18 - 00:26:06:10
Nathan Wilder
Between 106 and 104, it could be life threatening. So, it's really just important to listen and understand that if you are in the heat, you need to be proactive and taking some precautions before you start those activities and having a plan.
00:26:06:12 - 00:26:26:17
Mary Nadelen
We've highlighted what to look for, but what becomes so important, especially for parents and youth sports, is what do you do next? Because you really, truly can help these people. And if it is a true heat emergency, a heat stroke, cooling that individual is going to be so important.
00:26:26:23 - 00:26:45:08
Mary Nadelen
Getting them out of the sun, getting them soaked in water. If there is a tarp or something, you can get them in water and sitting in cold ice water, you 100% will be able to help that person. And so you know, there's not many lacrosse tournaments, soccer tournaments, youth football camps out there where people don't have coolers and water.
00:26:45:08 - 00:26:50:14
Mary Nadelen
And so it is possible to cool that person. And that is so very important for people to understand.
00:26:50:14 - 00:27:13:18
President Ginsberg
Well, let me ask you one more thing. Time is running out on this, but let me ask you this. If you could give one piece of advice to a youth sport coach or a youth sport parent or a youth athlete, that would be helpful to them. Both maximizing their performance but also being preventative of injury.
00:27:13:20 - 00:27:16:01
President Ginsberg
What advice might you give?
00:27:16:02 - 00:27:23:21
Mary Nadelen
Try many things. Challenge your body to move in many different ways and listen to your body.
00:27:23:23 - 00:27:45:00
Nathan Wilder
It's funny you say that, Mary, because I was going to say listen to your body. And I think seek out education, right? Seek out professionals. I think gathering that that knowledge from professionals who work in the business; it could be medical doctors, it could be athletic trainers, it could be physical therapists.
00:27:45:00 - 00:27:52:03
Nathan Wilder
But, you know, if you have access to an athletic trainer, I mean, we'll be glad to give you some information on how you can make yourself successful.
00:27:52:05 - 00:28:10:05
President Ginsberg
Well that's great. I really thank you for joining me. The advice that you've given and the information you provided, I think, will be enormously helpful to youth sport coaches, to parents, to athletes at every level. And I want to just also say, before we conclude that, that I know firsthand the importance of athletic training and athletic trainers for both my sons.
00:28:10:05 - 00:28:28:21
President Ginsberg
As you know, we're both college athletes. One of my sons had two knee injuries over the course of his playing career, and I think his health and wellness as an adult is absolutely related to the care and treatment and the rehab and the prevention that he was provided by your colleagues. So thank you for the work that you do.
00:28:28:21 - 00:28:47:07
President Ginsberg
And thank you for being here with me today. Joined by Nathan Wilder and Mary Nadelen, two esteemed athletic trainers here at Towson University. Mary an athletic training educator. Nathan, our director of sports medicine our head of athletic trainer for TU鈥檚 varsity teams. Thank you for being here. And thank you for joining us for On the Mark.
00:28:47:13 - 00:29:06:10
President Ginsberg
We look forward to seeing you and hearing having you have an opportunity to hear from us in our next episode. Again, On the Mark is a regular series of podcasts that we hold here at Towson University. I'm Mark Ginsberg, president of TU. Thank you both for joining us and thank you for listening. Thank you for listening to On the Mark.
00:29:06:12 - 00:29:31:00
President Ginsberg
If you like what you've heard, please give us a follow or leave a review. It helps to ensure that we can keep bringing you more candid conversations about the consequential work of higher education. If you have feedback about our podcast, I'd welcome hearing from you. Please feel free to send me a message at onthemark@towson.edu.
00:29:31:02 - 00:30:03:20
Narrator
Founded in 1866, Towson University is a top ranked comprehensive public research university, recognized as Maryland's number one public institution by The Wall Street Journal. As Greater Baltimore's largest university, TU proudly serves as an engine of opportunity for nearly 20,000 students, the state of Maryland and beyond. Explore more than 190 top ranked undergraduate and graduate degree programs and make our momentum yours at towson.edu.