Participating in sports like Ultimate can have strong and positive influences on our health and well-being. Even still, no one is immune from struggles with physical and mental health.
We hope you find the following information and resources helpful:
- Injury Prevention - Warming Up
- Injury Prevention - Concussion Management in Sport
- Mental Health Matters
Injury Prevention - Warming Up
Warming up is very important to avoid injuries, and many of us have learned the hard way!
Our friends at Insync Physiotherapy have provided us with an example of a dynamic warm-up for ulti players. A dynamic warm-up helps loosen our muscles and gets them activated before we play.
Here are some additional Ultimate-related warm-up resources courtesy of our community partners:
- More Insync warm-ups designed to prevent injuries, improve capacity for functional movement, and activate key muscle groups (recognize one of our favourite VUL tournaments in one of the videos?)
- “The Ultimate Warmup,” a downloadable PDF from Jointworks Chiropractic
Injury Prevention - Concussion Management in Sport
A concussion involves trauma to the brain, when forces cause the brain to move rapidly within the skull. A concussed brain can impact cognitive and physical functioning, and if not managed properly can lead to long-term symptoms and complications.
We cannot offer medical advice, but if you suspect a teammate has sustained a concussion, it’s important they stop playing and seek the guidance of a trained professional.
SportMedBC has a list of “red flags” for when you or a friend should seek urgent care, and a protocol for when it’s safe to return to play. A comprehensive FAQ on concussions can be found at the Canadian Sport Information Resource Centre.
Locally, our community partner Jointworks Chiropractic has trained concussion management specialists on staff. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to them for help!
Mental Health Matters
As Ultimate players, we often talk about our physical health and injuries related to playing our sport. We want our community to be comfortable talking about our mental health, too.
If you suffer from a mental illness, please know you are not alone. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, in any given year 1 in 5 Canadians will personally experience a mental health problem or illness. That includes athletes!
When you are physically injured, you go to a team of healthcare professionals to aid in your recovery. If you are struggling with your mental health, please don’t hesitate to ask for help. In B.C., you can contact the BC Crisis Centre at any time.
Here are some other organizations that provide supports and services:
Do you have any other suggestions for how we can support mental health in our Ultimate community? We would be happy to hear from you.
