Warwickshire U20’s County Rugby Team

Through the physiotherapist I work for at Leamington Rugby Football Club, my contact details were passed on to the physiotherapist at Warwickshire U20’s County Rugby Team at the beginning of the 2015-2016 season. I was honoured to have been highly recommended to WRFU, it was apparent from the comments I received that my skill set was a desired attribute which WRFU wanted to employ. The role at WRFU, like LRFU was to aid in rehabilitating players to maintain optimum fitness levels.

The role here differed however as the players I work with are under 20yrs old. This provided me with a different challenge because they’re only a couple of years younger than myself. I was determined to be taken on the value of my skills as a physiotherapist rather than be a peer to the players. This was enforced by the management at WRFU, the manager gave the impression that my role would be taken very seriously which was reassuring to me as I like to conduct myself to high levels of professionalism. It’s extremely interesting to see how WRFU was run differently to LRFU. All the players would have to be passed as fit to play by myself before the manager would consider them for matches. This gave me an autonomy and respect in the club as my knowledge and advice was adhered to based on my professional opinion, a feeling which I hope to be able to emulate in any work environment I’ve the privilege to be in.

Like LRFU, Warwickshire were understanding that my degree came first and allowed me to give as much time to them as I was willing without compromising my studies. Their gratitude for the work I provided them was constantly apparent which made me feel extremely valued by the club. I thrived in being able to see my studies at university being put into practice with positive results which allowed me to improve many other tertiary skills like time management and organisation.

This team has provided me with opportunities to further my name in physiotherapy. Through championship matches there is the chance of being able to work alongside physiotherapists at Twickenham and other highly established rugby grounds. While this sounds like an amazing opportunity I see this as a stepping stone to build my experience for when I become a fully qualified physiotherapist. The unpredictability of the games has given me a wide range of injuries to treat in short periods of time, a skill which is crucial when working as an MSK physiotherapist.

I’ve been extremely grateful to both clubs as they have allowed me a unique opportunity to prove myself in an environment where the skills I’ve learnt and studied for are applied which improve my all round ability to be a successful physiotherapist. I wish to bring what I’ve learned here into my future career whilst constantly learning and improving, as I strive to fulfil my passion of working in a hospital.