Concussion, Health, Exercise advice, Cardiac, & Knowledge updates. Elite level care for all athletes.
We are passionate about ensuring the level of expert care we give to our elite sports teams and athletes are available to everyone. Whether a weekend warrior or a 14-year-old first learning to play footy, all brains and bodies are worth keeping safe and healthy. As the only specialist clinic in South Australia run by Sports and Exercise Physicians, we are happy to announce South Australia’s first comprehensive pre-season CHECK program modelled after the same pre-season standards and care given to our elite teams and athletes.
The SPARC CHECK program incorporates:
- Concussion
- Your CHECK includes yearly pre-season computer concussion testing. If concussed, this allows comparisons for faster/safer clearance back to sport, and monitor for any long-term changes
- Health
- Exercise is medicine, and as specialist physicians along with a dedicated allied health team at SPARC, we can help you with your goals as well as assess for conditions such as iron deficiency
- Exercise advice
- Identifying risks in the pre-season allows specific exercise guidance, whether to reduce risk of future hamstring tears, ACL prevention strategies, or to manage your chronic groin overload
- Cardiac / ECG
- Best medical practice is that all high-level athletes 16-35 require an ECG and cardiac exam for risk of sudden cardiac death and athlete heart changes. This is routinely performed for our elite athletes and teams, and the CHECK program now offers this level of care to all athletes
- Knowledge updates
- A clear understanding of your injury or risks, with appropriate communication with your coach, physio and yourself with a concrete and sound plan to manage the concern, all guided by specialist physicians up to date with the latest research in sports medicine
An additional option also include incorporation of:
- Sports Physio for analysis of specific musculoskeletal injury risks, ways to reduce those risks, optimise your performance, and skinfold measurement to assess body composition
The CHECK appointment is 40 minutes (+20min if physio option included) which includes your concussion computer baseline testing and ECG in collaboration with SA Heart cardiologists.
We welcome any questions and are happy to hear from you at 08 8234 9707 (Dr Geoff Verrall).
We believe that all athletes, regardless of being elite or novice, deserve the same level of care whether prevention of their ACL injury, cardiac issues, or concussion management. The CHECK program, a first in SA, allows accessible and optimized coordinated care to all athletes under specialist sports physician guidance, and we look forward to working with you soon.