Dr. Nicola presenting at the 2018 Sports Chiropractic Symposium in the Gold Coast

I am honoured to have been selected to present at the SCA 2018 Sports Chiropractic Symposium in the Gold Coast in April. The presentation will be offered through the masterclass stream (for chiropractors who have already completed their post graduate sports chiropractic qualifications).

The title of my presentation is "The Gluteal Musculature and its Importance in Injury Prevention, Injury Rehabilitation and Performance for Football (Soccer) Players." 

Although this talk is geared towards soccer players, much of the content relates to the active general population so please feel free to ask me about this topic if you are interested.

I hope my patients understand my absence from the clinic during the last week and a half of April for this symposium.

Please click on this link here to see a video of me giving an introduction in advance of the presentation.

My experience at the FFA National Futsal Championships with the Victorian Team!

I had a great experience working as the team doctor (sports chiropractor) for the Victorian under 19 boys and girls teams, boys under 16 Metro and Country teams and the girls under 15 team at the FFA National Futsal Championships held in Sydney between the 3rd and 8th of January of this year.

I was extremely busy looking after 5 teams but was grateful to be involved with a competition that combines many of my key professional interests; youth athletes, elite sport and football (soccer).

I was also glad that most of my teams progressed further than expected with three of my teams making it passed the group stages all the way to the semi finals and then only going down in hard fought games that could of gone either way!

I was most impressed by the character of the youth players under my care. They behaved with respect and the utmost professionalism and the future looks bright for Futsal in Victoria. I will cherish the friendships I made with players, parents and staff alike.

My experience at the Sailing World Cup Final!

I had a great experience working at the Sailing World Cup Final held between the 4th and 11th of December 2016 in St Kilda, Australia.

I was head clinician for two days of the competition where I treated athletes but also supervised 4th and 5th year Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) chiropractic students. 

I always find it very exciting working with elite athletes but the Sailing World Cup Final this year also gave me my first experience being a head supervising clinician for RMIT chiropractic students and this was an experience I greatly enjoyed. The students I worked with were very dedicated and keen to learn. These students did a great job helping athletes achieve their best and I am sure they will graduate to become great chiropractors!

There was a large number of athletes at this event as there was men's and woman's youth age group championships as well as open age championships. There was also a large array of different classes from Lasers to Kite Surfing.

Chiropractic was the sole health service officially offered at the Sailing World Cup Final of 2016 and, by all reports, the athletes were extremely happy with the treatment they received! 

Congratulations to all athletes and I hope to be involved with more Sailing World Cups in the future where I can, perhaps, meet up again with new friends made!

My Rio Paralympics experience!

What an amazing experience it was working at the Rio 2016 Paralympics. The athletes I met and treated were absolutely inspirational. To see these people overcome huge obstacle and then dedicate themselves to competing against the best in the world really forces you to re-evaluate your whole outlook on life.

Working in a multidisciplinary team with some of the worlds best Sports Doctors, Physiotherapists, Osteopaths and, of course, other Sports Chiropractors was also a tremendous experience. All the health professionals in the Paralympic Polyclinic worked together for the common good of the athlete and everybody was very friendly.

The athletes (and officials) I treated were all so nice and appreciative of everything I did for them and I can honestly say I have come away with many new friends. Just to be able to help each individual I treated in some way was my primary goal and I could write about every patient I saw as they were all winners to me. That said, I will quickly tell you about some of the athletes I treated who were also lucky enough to achieve great results.

Majid Farzin is an Iranian powerlifter who I treated in the Paralympic Polyclinic just two hours before his competition for soreness in both shoulders and arms and in his neck. Majid went on to win a gold medal and break the world record. He was very happy and came in for a bit more treatment the next day and to show me his gold medal! I couldn't be more proud of this great man!

El Amin Chentouf is a Moroccan Marathon and 5000 meter runner. I was treating El Amin for a very painful plantar fasciitis. If you're a runner and you have suffered from this before, you would know how hard it is to run with this condition, let alone complete a marathon. After treating El Amin the night before his marathon, he went on to win the gold medal, a fantastic addition to the silver medal he won for the 5000 meters!

As I said, I have many more inspirational stories I could tell as all the athletes I saw were champions in my eyes. You will just have to ask me in person to tell you about some of these other inspirational stories!

Dr James Nicola offered a position at the Olympics and Paralympics in Rio!

I feel very honoured to be offered a position by both the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Organising Committees. The Rio Olympic and Paralympic Organising Committees only offered about 15 positions, from applicants from around the world, in the medical services area for sports chiropractors in the Olympic/ Paralympic village.

Unfortunately, I could not accept my offered position at the Olympics because of medical issues but I am now recovered and fit to take up my sports chiropractor post in the Paralympic village, working along side other world leading health professionals from many different disciplines. 

I think it will be truly inspiring and humbling working with people who have overcome their disabilities to rise to the most elite level of their chosen sport!

Watch this space for updates on my Rio Paralympic journey!