Clinic empowers clients with the “why” to their rehab
By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex
Mitch Dahl and the ZONE Sports crew aim to empower clients. |
Mitch Dahl, who is one
of the founding partners of ZONE Sports Physiotherapy, believes clients should
know “why” they are doing something, so they know “how” they can become better.
Dahl is one of three
ZONE team members who are at the company’s second clinic located at the Indoor
Training Centre on the grounds of the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. The ZONE
founding partner said the team at his clinic aims to give their clients
knowledge and tools that will help them recover from injuries and improve their
overall health.
Dahl said the ZONE
team’s goal is to help their clients move better, so they can live better.
“It is more of an
approach of a very active based rehabilitation,” said Dahl. “We are really
trying to educate people and engage them in the process.
“If you teach people things,
the unknown is not as scary. All of a sudden, things make sense.
“I always tell young athletes don’t just do it because we tell you to do it. Understand what is going on. We try to give lots of people tools in their toolbox and empower them to get better so they are not dependent on us.”
ZONE’s first clinic that opened in 2011 is located in the Point 9 Building in University Heights in northeast Saskatoon, which is also home to the Saskatoon Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Centre.
One of the treatment rooms at ZONE Sports Physiotherapy. |
With that said, the ZONE clinic on the
Gordie Howe grounds does see clients who are non-athlete every day and all day.
People that utilize that ZONE clinic range in age from eight to 88 and come
from all walks of life.
ZONE Sports Physiotherapy delivers
individualized care and expertise for assessment, treatment and management of
sports, orthopedic, personal, work and auto injuries including post-operative
rehabilitation.
Dahl said he often fields questions from
potential clients asking if they can come even if they are ‘not an athlete.’ He
said everyone is an athlete to some extent.
If a person gets injured doing something physical at the work place or the injury occurs in an athletic environment, Dahl said in both cases the injured parties are trying to regain the ability to do a physical movement.
Dahl enjoys seeing both athletes and members of the general public come through ZONE’s doors and when they are doing physiotherapy programming at the gym run by one of ZONE’s long-time partners in IGNITE Athletics.
Another ZONE Sports Physiotherapy treatment room. |
“It is kind of neat to
see the mix there, and I think it spills over to here too where someone comes
in and they are a high-level athlete, and they start having a chance to
converse with someone in the waiting room, where they are just making small
talk. It creates a good sense of comradery and community.”
All three therapists
on staff at Gordie Howe Sport Complex’s ZONE clinic can treat head to toe
injuries, and they each have a specialty interest area too.
Dahl came over because
he works with baseball and football athletes a lot, so it was a natural fit for
him to be on site. He will do assessments for football athletes, so they can
determine which weaknesses or physical areas they need to work on before going
off to events like the CFL combine. In baseball, Dahl will do assessments for
players in regard to how they handle things physically like their throwing
motion.
Brad Spokes oversees
the ZONE Performance Multisport program that is geared to helping athletes in
endurance-based sports, along with some strength and explosive type sports
athletes as well. The presence of track and field, speed skating and Nordic
skiing athletes made the Gordie Howe Sports Complex location a draw.
Jennifer Browne runs
the “60 Strong” program, which is a masters age level strength program. Those
workouts run twice a week.
If a need arises where a client would be
better served by seeing a staff member at the first ZONE clinic to access a
specific area of expertise, such as vestibular/balance/dizziness rehab, a referral
will be made.
Overall, Dahl said it is rewarding to work
with the high-quality people that utilize the multisport facility on a daily
basis.
Mitch Dahl and the Zone Sports crew enjoy helping clients. |
“If you need to stay
late and help people out, it doesn’t feel like work, because you are in a great
place to be.”
For
more information about ZONE Sports Physiotherapy, feel free to contact them via
email at zonegh@zonesportspt.com
or by phone at (306) 477-9663.