IFSPT CELEBRATES FIRST WORLD SPORTS PHYSICAL THERAPY DAY

The World Sports Physical Therapy Day was definitely established during the IFSPT General Meeting 2024 in Oslo, after a careful discussion suggested by our Turkish Member Organization during the General Meeting held in Belgium in 2023. The IFSPT Assembly approved this initiative and established December 8 as the date, since that is the date the IFSPT was officially chartered.

World Sports Physical Therapy Day, similar to World PT Day, is meant to serve as an opportunity to recognise the work that sports physical therapists do for their patients and community. Using World SPT Day as a focus, IFSPT aims to support member organisations in their efforts to promote the profession and advance their expertise.

Just as reports from around the world indicate that World PT Day activities have a positive impact on the profession’s profile and standing with both the public and policy makers, IFSPT's goal is to unite sports physical therapists around the world in celebrating our contributions to the health, rehabilitation and performance of all athletes, from weekend warriors to elite level performers. This year, December 8 marked the beginning of this initiative, with growth developing throughout the years.

SPORTS COMP FALL MEETING IN LAMIA, GREECE CONNECTS TO PANHELLENIC CONFERENCE IN ATHENS FOR A MARATHON COLLABORATION!

The Sports Physiotherapy Section (ETAF) of the Panhellenic Physiotherapists’ Association (PPTA) organised the First Marathon Sports Physical Therapy Symposium 2024, which is taking place in Athens, Greece, at the headquarters of the Hellenic Olympic Committee. 

The Symposium was held in the context of the participation of ETAF-PPTA as an official volunteer team of sports physiotherapists during the 41st Athens Marathon-The Authentic, which took place on November 10, 2024, as well as to inform about and promote the Erasmus+ SportsComp project.

SportsComp PMG and DT committee members had a productive and engaging Third SportsComp project meeting in Lamia, Greece, hosted by the University of Thessaly!

Attendees discussed work packages, held hybrid seminars with 100 participants registered, ran workshops on e-learning development, and explored the online environments for the upcoming SportsComp courses. Committee members even had some time for social activities and dinner!

Significant progress was made on several key aspects:

• E-learning Courses: Details of course content, learning activities and course assessement.

• Digital Skills Enhancement: Engaged in hands-on workshops to strengthen digital competencies and abilities in teaching e-learning.

Next steps:

The next actions and activities were reviewed for 2025. It's going to be an exciting year for all sports physical therapists. The SportsComp project will pilot two e-learning courses in fall 2025...everyone will be invited to join in.

Please follow SportsComp Erasmus social media as well as https://ifspt.org/erasmus-plus_sportscomp

Behind the scene in Greece, November 2024.

A working session from the Erasmus+ SportsComp meeting.

Conference attendees participated live and online.

Panhellenic Conference speakers.

The SportsComp Consortium had the opportunity to present the SportsComp project and the detailed actions completed in the first 15 months to the Greek colleagues at the Marathon Sports Physiotherapy Symposium. held at the Hellenic Olympic Committee Headquarters in Athens.



The Symposium was well organized by the Sport Section of the Panhellenic Physiotherapists' Association. During the SportsComp session, partners described an historical background of how the Consortium was formed, and presented the preliminary data of the Delphi study and of the qualitative study, related to the focus group and the interviews from early 2024. Presenters also showed general information about the upcoming e.learning courses that are being developed to support the project. The amount of data was impressive and appreciated by attendees.

The Consortium is proud of these first achievements and is already working on 2025 activities. The SportsComp project partners will pilot two e-learning courses focused on sports physical therapy competencies. These courses will be available at no cost.

Please follow SportsComp and IFSPT social media, as well as the website for further updates! https://ifspt.org/erasmus-plus_sportscomp/news/

Derya Ozer Kaya, IFSPT Board Member and Educational Committee Chair served as the moderator as IFSPT hosted Karin Gravare Silbernagel, BS, MS, PhD for an educational evening discussing tendon injury management November 14.

Exercise as a treatment for tendinopathy may seem straightforward until you have the patient in front of you. This webinar discussed how evaluating tendon health domains—such as tendon structure (via ultrasound imaging), function, symptoms, psychological factors, and personal factors—can aid in understanding treatment prognosis and in tailoring treatment from the early stages to the return to sport. Emphasis was placed on exercise activities and potential barriers to these.

Karin, a native of Sweden, is a Professor and Associate Chair at the University of Delaware in the United States. She received her BS in Physical Therapy at Boston College, moving on to the University of Gothenberg, Sweden for her Masters in Physical Therapy and her Doctorate pf Philosophy in Medicine/Orthopedics. Karin returned to the United States in 2009. She is a popular international speaker and participates in international sports physiotherapy research.

The webinar will soon be available for purchase on the IFSPT website for those who were unable to participate in November.

THE BRAIN AND SPORT:

SPORTFISIO COLLABORATES WITH IFSPT AND IJSPT FOR 2024 CONFERENCE IN BERN

The Swiss Sports Physiotherapy Association (SSPA) organized its 22nd annual conference on November 8th, 2024 in Bern, capital of Switzerland. Almost 500 attendees gathered at the Bernexpo to follow this event, which showcased “Brain & Sport” with some of the latest developments in this exciting and important field. The role of neurocognition in prevention and rehabilitation has significantly grown in recent years: ACL research has generated lots of knowledge which may potentially be extrapolated and applied in other areas. Some of the most respected clinicians and researchers in sports PT and sports medicine worldwide were present in Bern, and delivered high quality presentations, including interesting Q&A sessions.

Francesco Della Villa (ISOKINETIC, Italy) opened the conference with a brilliant talk on “The ACL injury through a neurocognitive lens”: an increasing number of research studies showed how neurocognitive “errors” are common in non-contact ACL injuries in women and men’s football (soccer). Dustin Grooms, (Ohio, USA) gave a fascinating lecture from from “Neuroplasticity after sports injury” (with ACL as the most studied “injury model”) to the “neuroplastic augmented injury rehabilitation and prevention” (combining motor learning, virtual reality, neurocognitive & visual-spatial attention, and sensory reweighting).

Anne Benjaminse (Groningen, Amsterdam, Netherlands), mother of a baby few weeks ago, presented (in a recorded video) the most recent advances in neurocognitive challenges in ACL rehabilitation: implicit motor learning with an external focus significantly increases both skills retention and quality of movement. Joanna Kvist (Linköping, Sweden) spoke about integrating psychological aspects into ACL rehabilitation, and presented the BANG Study (BAck iN The Game: a smartphone application to improved confidence and mental readiness for return to sport after ACL injury), an impressive 10 years in its making. While the application was found positive by both athletes and physiotherapists, the results of the RCT showed no significant differences in outcomes (return to sport at 1 year post ACLR, same sport, same level, full participation). While there is agreement that psychological aspects need to be addressed, to identify outcomes and sub-groups will be the focus for further research in this area.

“Our” board member and IFSPT board member Suzanne Gard (Geneva, Switzerland) presented her preferred topic "Shoulder instability rehabilitation: no brain-no gain" with an illuminating case report of a young female gymnast (including the athlete’s voice and examples of individual adapted rehabilitation strategies).

Jessica Schwartz (New York, USA), the founder The Concussion Corner Academy® (CCA), lectured passionately about the complexity of concussion and moreover the management of persistent post-concussion symptoms.

Eamonn Delahunt (Dublin, Irland) reminded first on how an ankle injury corrupts the sensorimotor accuracy of lower limb motor control and then highlighted the neuromuscular and neurocognitive strategies which should be implemented in ankle rehabilitation.

Eva Ageberg (Lund, Sweden) focused on one of her research projects: the “Motor Imagery to facilitate Sensorimotor Re-Learning” (MOTIFS). While the the MOTIFS model was found positive and enjoyable for knee patients, more research is needed to identify which outcomes are most appropriate to evaluate the holistic and complex nature of return to activity.  

Last, but not least, the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy (IJSPT) published just few days before the conference, a special issue dedicated to “Neurocognition”, featuring also original papers from some of the Bern speakers. The editorial of this issue underscored the importance of international cooperation to boost sports PT worldwide and continuously improve the care for our athletes and patients.

While the 2025 edition of this conference will take place in Lausanne (in partnership with the Sport & Exercise Medicine Switzerland), the SSPA will host in 2026 (for the 2^nd timea fter the unforgettable inaugural congress in 2015) the 6^th World Congress of Sports Physical Therapy. Mark your calendar: the dates are set for December 4-5, 2026! As the organizers are planning some pre-conference course, you may rather book that week in December 2026 for a full sports PT week in Bern, Switzerland!

Dr. Jessica Schwartz speaks on Concussion Complexities in Bern.

National Congress on Sports Physiotherapy: The Young Athletes

BELGIAN CONFERENCE IN LEUVEN INTRODUCES THE FIRST WORLD SPORTS PHYSICAL THERAPY DAY

The 2nd Belgian Sports Physiotherapy Congress at KU Leueven began with an interesting day of speakers and presentations focused on the young athlete.

The weekend continued with the animation of a training day at the Haute Ecole Léonard de Vinci - HE Vinci on the RTR after #aclr within the sports physiotherapist training. Andrea Braga presented to the trainees the screening with clinical tests, strength tests using portable manual dynamometers (HHD Push & Pull), and functional tests.

The IFSPT also announced the First World Sports Physical Therapy Day, which was held on December 8, to raise awareness of the benefits of sports physical therapy around the world.

Congratulations to the organizers on a successful and information conference!

In addition, 5 years ago, Belgian Federation of Sports Physiotherapy allowed Belgium to be part of the member countries of IFSPT. For 5 years, BFSP and IFSPT have been collaborating, exchanging and contributing together to the development of sports physiotherapy in Belgium. Tonight, after the 2nd National Congress in Sports Physiotherapy, the BFSP Board salutes IFSPT and thanks all the Administrators for their work and these moments of fabulous scientific exchanges! See you for the 10 years!!!

PREPARE FOR WORLD PHYSIOTHERAPY 2025!

May 29-31 | Tokyo, Japan

IFSPT TO PRESENT CLINICAL SEMINAR AT WP 2025!

The congress programme committee (CPC) has now completed its review of the submissions for clinical seminars for World Physiotherapy Congress 2025. The CPC has accepted IFSPT's proposal Sustainable Rehabilitation for Injury Prevention in Sport for presentation in Tokyo!

Congratulations to the contributors and the Research Committee of the IFSPT. See you in Tokyo!

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!

Record number of congress abstract submissions received

A record number of abstract submissions for World Physiotherapy Congress 2025, 29-31 May in Tokyo, Japan, have been received.

A total of 3,355 submissions were completed and submitted by the closing date on 3 October 2024. The previous highest number of submissions was 2,883 for the congress in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 2011.

Read all the details at this link>



SAVE THE DATE!

Join IFSPT and Sportfisio Switzerland in Bern, Switzerland, December 4-5, 2026!

AVAILABLE NOW AT WWW.IJSPT.ORG