Aug. 16, 2016
As a new collegiate athletic year approaches, teams are already in full gear preparing for the new season. Preventing injuries is a top priority for any team at any level in the sports world. But, when three starters on the Nevada Wolf Pack women's basketball team went down with anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, tears last season, the training staff at the university knew they needed to do something more to stop a situation like that from ever happening again.
"The knee is a joint, so we need to strengthen all the dynamic muscles around it," said Ryan Averett, assistant director of sports medicine for the Pack.
Cue the ACL Prevention Program. The program is specifically built for each individual on the team based on their risk of ACL injury, and is worked in alongside student-athlete's normal training and conditioning. Wall squats, treadmill and bike routines and step exercises are just a few components of the program.
The athletic trainers work with the physical therapy department on campus to assess each student-athlete through a selective functional movement assessment. The SFMA looks at how muscles activate and react in different positions, as well as their flexibility and overall movement. From the assessment, the staff can identify what isn't functioning as it should be, so that they can focus on those areas to prevent future damage.
"The length of time depends on the level of risk for the athlete. For higher risk athletes we'll go anywhere between three and five times a week. It's not a long program. It's quick, isolated movements that can last from 20 minutes to an hour," said Averett. "We're going to do this program for as long as possible though. We reassess after six weeks, three months, six months and then a year to see how the athlete is progressing."
Basketball is one of the most common sports for ACL injuries. With the sudden cuts, stops and jumps, the knee is at a large risk for injury on the court. This was clearly displayed this past season when senior Julia Shelbourn, charging toward the basket, attempted a quick stop. While everything else came to a halt, her knee kept going. Shelbourn was one of three starters to go down before conference play had even started. Redshirt juniors Ashlee Jones and T Moe joined her on that list.
"Having gone through back-to-back ACL tears, going into this year is already pretty scary for me because I don't want it to happen again so this helps give me some reassurance," Moe said.
"I think it's a good thing because it's preventing this from happening again," said Jones. "I can only imagine what T Moe is going through, so having to go through this program is better to try and prevent it from even happening again."
In fact, what the program can do for the players mentally is equally as important as the physical benefits.
"Hopefully for T Moe and Ashlee, this will help get their confidence back and they can go out there and play fearlessly like they had been doing," Averett said.
Nevada women's basketball isn't the only team on campus afflicted by knee injuries. During the 2014 soccer season, seven players suffered an ACL injury, resulting in the team finishing the season 1-9-1 in conference play, coming in last. Averett said, based on the success with the women's basketball team, the program could be spread across sports.
"We're looking to implement this more with our female athletes, because studies have shown that females are at a higher risk for ACL injuries just with the way their bodies are built," said Averett.
Jones, whose injury during the 2015-16 season was the first of her career, definitely sees the benefits and importance of the ACL Prevention Program.
"It's extremely important and it's a big thing for our team and the other teams at Nevada because it's happened so frequently the past couple of years that we need to do something about it now," said Jones. "You can't prevent it 100 percent but there are things we can do to take that risk down."
Both Jones and Moe will head into the 2016-17 season fully recovered and, thanks to the new ACL Prevention Program at Nevada, they'll have the strength and confidence they need to perform at the highest level on the court, wearing their Wolf Pack silver and blue.
