ENHP Professor Presents at Asian Football Confederation Sports Medicine Summit

Injury prevention programs in football (soccer) have shown excellent effectiveness in decreasing playing time lost due to injury. However, standardized programs require sufficient subject matter expertise, time, and equipment to deliver. In the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands resources such as player training time, coaches, and medical professionals are very limited. Professor Bellama developed a novel injury prevention plan that can be delivered by coaches in a limited time frame (~40 mins per week) for the Northern Marianas Football Association (NMIFA). 

However, given the high demand on the coaches and their limited time with the players, the implementation failed and the program has had to be altered. Despite decreasing resources necessary for the initial iteration of the injury prevention program, the program had to be further refined to decrease the burden on the coaching staff. As a result, Professor Bellama has developed an injury-prevention, football-specific conditioning, and strength training for developing players that will be delivered entirely remotely, with no medical or coach supervision, and with no equipment. This program will begin in the summer of 2023 and data will be collected yearly by Professor Bellama and students from the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at the University of Hartford.

Professor Bellama also met with faculty from four universities in Hong Kong to discuss opportunities for collaboration in practice and research.