Today I travelled to Crediton Football Club in Exeter to assist with coaching for a soccer school day.

Today consisted of teaching football/assisting with another coach to the infants (aged between 4-6 years).

Due to the athletes being young, we decided to keep it super fun as they lost interest with the other coaches last week.

So today I decided to do a fun running game for their warm up; banana tag! To keep it “Covid friendly” we got them staying in a large space away from the others, the two “banana taggers” had bibs that they needed to throw at the others in order to “tag” them. We then progressed this by keeping it sport specific (football) and added “apples” into the game. The “apples” needed to kick the footballs between the legs of the “tagged” athletes in order to free them, again this is keeping it COVID friendly.

After the warm up we advanced to our mini Olympic Games.

We had 5 different stations and grouped the athletes in teams of 5- this is their bubble of the day so we tried to make sure that they were in groups with their friends.

Stations: crossbar challenge, penalty shots, bib throwing, weaving relays, “top bins”. Below you will see photos of all of the stations.

Crossbar Challenge

Penalty Shooting

Bib Throwing

Weaving Relays

Top Bins

What Went Well

I found that all the kids enjoyed themselves especially when they all said that today was the best day! Due to two of us coaching this group, I was still able to be available for any injuries that occurred throughout the day.

Injuries

There was a couple fo injuries that occurred. However these injuries were very minor so I felt confident in applying general first aid and not need much assistance. The injuries occurred mainly for the junior group and all happened near the end of the day so these injuries may have occurred due to fatigue. One athlete had rolled their ankle however because they got straight up afterwards they felt okay so I ensured I kept an eye on this athlete in case they needed further assistance.

What Could Have Gone Better

Due to not knowing that I was assisting coaching again today, I should have created a plan for the day. However, even without a plan and putting mine and the other coaches knowledge together we come up with a pretty fun filled day that still involved football. We got great feedback from the parents also.

Next Time

Next time, I will find out if I am taking over a session and make sure that I have a planned session ready prior to the day.

Overall I found that this day went really well and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Today I had two clients booked in at Marjon Sport Clinic.

My first client was a face-to-face appointment, a follow up from last week.

Throughout this appointment I felt comfortable and confident with the advice I was giving my patient. I achieved all questions that I needed to go through for this appointment which I could not complete virtually. I asked my supervisor to come into our appointment to ensure I was completing this appointment correctly and on the correct rehabilitation path I needed to take my client on. We then went through the home based exercises which I had prescribed last week and progressed them which needed to be completed everyday until their following appointment which is next week.

What Went Well

I found that my confidence and professional approach enabled me to feel less nervous and felt calm whilst discussing with my client. My client felt relaxed and gave me brilliant verbal feedback and was impressed that I was only a student!

What Could Have Gone Better

My research for this clients injury could have gone better. I knew enough of the injury to help guide him in the correct rehabilitation path but I need to work on my red flags and ensure that I am ticking those boxes off to make sure that ny of my clients are not showing any signs of the red flags.

Next Time

Next time, I need to make sure that I cover my neurological assessment along with the other assessments I completed. I need to make sure that I don’t take the client back and forth to the cubicle and make sure that the appointment runs smoothly to ensure that the client feels comfortable. I also need to do more research on the appropriate exercises for this client and any future clients who show similar symptoms of this injury.

My second client was an online virtual appointment. Prior to this appointment I didn’t know what this client was complaining of. However, I was able to get enough information from this client to create a plan for next week as she has booked in with another student therapist due to not being available on Friday when I am available.

What Went Well

I think the appointment went smoothly as much as it could due to the internet being slow. However, I made sure the client felt comfortable throughout the appointment by listening to this client and ensuring that they had full trust in myself with their rehabilitation plan.

What Could Have Gone Better

For the future I need to make sure I am more aware of different types of clinical impressions/diagnosis’s as I find it difficult when I need to write what I think it could be. Especially when discussing it with my supervisor, they ask me why I think it is this injury and I have nothing to back it up. So I need to make sure that I do more research on how to diagnose an injury.

Next Time

Next time, I would like to be able to have full confidence in myself when giving a clinical diagnosis/impression.

Today I was back at South Devon College in Paignton for another day of Easter holiday soccer school holiday club.

Today, I was in charge of the warm up, so I played a game with them all which involved footballs, bibs and lots of running! I then threw in some actions; star jumps, floor touches, jumps, change direction, etc.

After the warm up the group was split into two, one group came with me and the other group went with the other coach. I was a little nervous and excited at the same time as I enjoy teaching the children something knew! I was given a task to focus on their dribbling with the football, so I create some fun relay games of weaving in and out of the cones, sprinting with the football. We then played a defending and attacking game also, then switched groups.

After lunch we then played mini tournaments and penalty shootouts to get winners for the certificate ceremony at the end.

Today went really well, the children learnt something knew, especially when asked at the end if they had learnt something and what they enjoyed the most, we got great feedback!

There were only minor injuries today. General first aid to a child’s hand due to falling and scraping their hands on the floor, so I cleaned it up and applied plasters. Another child from the older age group got a bleeding nose from the ball hitting him in the face so I ensured that he wasn’t concussed by asking him if he was feeling sick or dizzy whilst cleaning his nose and asking him to pinch his nose. I made sure he took it easy for the rest of the day as didn’t want him to become extra tired and start to feel faint.

I was confident with these injuries as these are quite common and I’ve dealt with these on numerous occasions.

Next time, I want to make sure that all of the kids are doing a cool down at the end rather then sitting them down for a recap of the day and then sent on their way with their parents.

Today, I travelled to South Devon College in Paignton for another Easter holiday soccer school day.

Today I was assisting coaching for the younger group (5-7 year olds) due to having to keep an eye on a child. This child has epilepsy which we needed to have training for in order to know and understand how to care for him if he was to have an epileptic seizure. Typically his seizures only happen at night times but we still needed to be cautious.

Today consisted of fun games, mini matches, more fun games (but teaching them football still) and then penalty shoot outs, with lunch time in between.

Today made me feel a little nervous as I was more concerned for the task I was given to keep an eye on this child. However, we needed to make sure that we were not making it too obvious so he still felt involved just like the other children in his group.

Working with the youngest age group was harder than I thought as I needed to ensure that I was talking to them in a particular language and chosen vocabulary in order for them to understand.

Next time, I need to ensure I feel more confident, and plan fun games which I can take lead on for next week rather than just assisting with coaching.

Today I drove to Coombeshead Academy in Newton Abbot for another soccer school holiday day.

Today I was with another coach and assisted him with coaching the Junior age group (7-10 year olds).

Similar layout of the day to Crediton on the 6th. I was in charge of the fun warm up game, so we played the game banana tag! The kids loved it and had so much fun but making sure they were getting warm ready for the rest of the day.

We then played a football numbers game- this encouraged the athletes to listen out for their numbers, teaches them about defending and attacking the goal and ensures they go in for a challenge/tackle!

After the fun games in the morning we then went into more football specific for the afternoon.

After lunch, there was an injury to someone’s quadriceps/groin from over stepping whilst playing football. We went through some muscle stretches and he felt the pain “disappear” so wanted to continue playing.

At the end of the day, I went through a cool down with the athletes and some stretches prior to their parents collecting them.

Today I found that I felt I little less nervous compared to the other day due to knowing more of the coaches on the day and understanding what the plan of the day is going to be.

Next time, I want to make sure the older group are warming up and cooling down before and after the day begins and ends, due to a couple of them feeling “tight” in their legs. After they had noticed that I was stretching the middle age group, a couple of them can and joined in before leaving with their parents.

Today I had two clients booked in at the clinic.

The first was a virtual appointment at 9am, in order to prepare for this appointment I had ensured that my questions were prepared and my notes were ready the evening before due to not having the time in the clinic prior to my appointment. During this appointment I did not have anyone sit in with me to help take notes due to everyone else in clinic also having appointments. This made me a little nervous however also confident. It gave me the confidence boost I needed to do this appointment by myself.

What Went Well

I found this appointment ran smoothly and I was able to ask every question I possibly could, going through all the movements needed to help my client. Being able to confidently and professionally discuss an injury with a patient giving feedback and advice where necessary was the biggest highlight of this appointment. The patient gave me great feedback afterwards and booked their next appointment with myself for the following week.

What Could Have Gone Better

The timing of the appointment could have gone better. At the start I was 5 minutes late to my appointment due to technical difficulties with the internet on my device in order to connect to the video call. Prior to this because the clinic was busy there was miscommunications of where I could sit to go ahead with this appointment, ensuring people who had clients in the clinic had the beds available to them. However once I connected to the video call I explained and apologised for my lateness due to internet issues and they completely understood.

Next time

Next time I need to make sure I arrive to clinic in plenty of time prior to my appointment ensuring I have available bed space and be prepared ready to start my appointment on time.

My second appointment was a follow up appointment with a patient who had previously had their virtual appointment. For this appointment I needed to make sure I had read the notes from their last appointment so I could understand what the previous student therapist had already asked and discussed with this patient.

What Went Well

This patient had asked for an ultrasound on their knees due to it helping with their pain tolerance in the past. Being able to use the ultrasound machine correctly and performing the technique well in order to achieve a pain free appointment was the biggest achievement for myself.

What Could Have Gone Better

I needed to seek advice from my supervisor due to the patient suggesting to do the ultrasound right around their knees rather than just on the place where the notes stated it should be performed delayed the process. Due to the supervisor being super busy, however the patient completely understood that I needed to ensure these settings would be the best options for around the knee. I wanted to double check these settings due to not wanting to create more pain for the patient. I ensured to keep the patient in the loop of the discussion by asking the supervisor to come into our cubicle to discuss in front of the patient. We got the all clear however I felt like I needed to double check just in case.

Next time

I need to revise and practice my ultrasound skills, ensuring I know I am using the correct settings for the certain body part that it receiving the treatment. Next time I will be performing the ultrasound longer due to the patient being a little disappointed that we couldn’t do the treatment for longer due to lack of time. Next time I would like to be able to listen to the patients needs and what they would like rather than going through the plan that was previously given for this appointment. The plan in the previous notes were of exercises which the patient already performs at home so the time we spent on the exercises (rehabilitation exercises) we could have used to perform the ultrasound treatment for longer.

Saints Southwest Easter Holidays Football Club

Crediton Football Club- 9am till 3pm

Today I assisted coaching the junior athletes for Saints Easter holidays soccer school with another coach.

To start with, all coaches needed to ensure Covid-19 guidelines were in place; social distancing markers for parents dropping athletes off, ensuring cones were laid out to keep all groups bags separate from the other groups and making sure when treating athletes I needed to have PPE (hand sanitizer, gloves, mask).

We played mini games, taught football skills (ball mastery), played penalty shoot outs, crossbar challenge and ended with a mini football tournament.

This was my first school holiday soccer school and meeting new coaches so I was a little nervous. However once I was there and my supervisor was there I felt a little more relaxed due to having a familiar face.

Next time, I need to make sure I don’t feel so nervous and make sure I come out of my comfort zone when going to new places. I need to feel more confident in myself with my knowledge of coaching and rehabilitation.

There were only minor first aid injuries that occurred throughout the day. Cut knee- cleaned and applied a plaster. Cut finger- cleaned and applied plaster.

The last injury of the day was pain in the ankle from an inverted injury. I did grade 4 mobilisations on the ankle joint in dorsi/plantar flexion motion. Grade 4 due to minimal pain but needed to slightly increase ROM. The athlete explained that after 1 minute of mobilisations that their pain had reduced, giving them the confidence to apply pressure on their foot again.

We ended the day with some static stretches to cool down and then a certificate presentation for the winners of the penalty shootout, coaches star of the day and overall star selected by all coaches.

U13’s Game at Teignmouth Community School.

U13 devon vs U13 somerset Saints.

This game was a friendly due to it being the first game back after lockdown.

I assisted with the warm up prior to the start of the match and then overlooked the game which consisted of 4 quarters of 20 minutes each. In between each quarter I ensured all athletes were injury free from both teams. I over looked both teams due to them both being teams for Saints Southwest.

1 injury occurred after the 2nd quarter, a slight twist to the athletes right ankle. Checked ROM for both ankles to compared them both, but no decreased in ROM. The player was happy to keep playing, just wanted to be checked over to make sure.

Another injury occurred during the 4th quarter- pulled hamstring. The athlete overstretched for the ball whilst defending and had “over pulled” their left hamstring. ROM’s and palpations were performed. ROM was not restricted, I assisted with stretching their hamstring, and the athlete continued to play.

I found with this being the first game back after lockdown, the only two injuries were quite minor so I felt confident to help aid and assist with pain where necessary. I felt confident and continued to be professional throughout.

Next time, I need to make sure that my first aid kit is fully restocked as forgot to include ice packs into my bag. Luckily I didn’t need them this week but need to ensure my kit bag is fully restocked every week.

My aim for next time is to assist more with the warm up and cool down.

Todays hour consisted of CPD (Continuing Professional Development) through my placement. The first half hour consisted of learning about a procedure that all coaches needed to understand due to an athletes health condition. Within this half hour I learnt about epilepsy and what to do if this particular child had a seizure. This was a precaution due to the athletes seizures usually occur during the night, however due to this athlete attending my placements programme we needed to ensure we knew the steps to follow just in case. After this half hour of learning I feel confident that I understand what to do if this situation ever occurs.

The next half hour consisted of discussing the plan for return to play, due to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions being lifted from the 29th March. We discussed what the Covid regulations are and what we need to follow to ensure everyone, including parents, are socially distant, keeping safe and making sure all of the athletes who are returning are having fun!

I am super excited to get back on the pitch and having some sort of normality back!