volleyball team at U of T was also the coach for the national beach volleyball team, and that was Binstock’s introduction to the sport. The heightened challenge the game brought was what attracted Binstock to the sport: playing with one instead of five other teammates, jumping and running on sand instead of the smooth surface of a gym floor, and playing under the scorching heat of the sun instead of the comforts of an indoor volleyball court. “It challenges your athleticism, and it is more of a cognitive game, too. I like that part of it,” he says. Since he started playing competitive beach vol-leyball, Binstock has played in about 50 interna-tional competitions. One of his greatest goals was to play in the Olympics. He realized that dream in 2012 when he qualified to play in the 2012 London Olympics. The fact that he has been so invested in his sport did not stop Binstock from pursuing a career that he is also passionate about: chiropractic. As a competitive athlete since his younger years, he has received various treatments from and was exposed to different practitioners – physiologists, athletic therapists, chiropractors. He says he was inspired by the ability of these practitioners to help him heal from his sport injuries and get him back in the game. “I wanted to be able to instil that in others,” Binstock says. “I understand what (it feels like), not being able to do something you want because of limitations or pain – and I wanted to be able to help others as well.” To do this, he figured, he needed to learn about the human body and how to keep it healthy. Of all the treatments he had received from various prac-titioners, Binstock says, chiropractic was where he found the most benefit and had the most effective results. Choosing chiropractic as a career path was an easy decision. Having both his beach volleyball training and his chiropractic school located in the same city was half-the-battle-won for this athletic chiropractor. “I was fortunate enough that the only chiroprac-tic school in the whole country is in Toronto and the only place where everybody goes for national training is in Toronto,” Binstock says. “If that December 2013 Canadian Chiropractor 31 Balancing act “Throughout your life, the window of opportunity to be able to physically compete at the top of the world is so small.” I was just playing too much hockey to not really go professional at it,” Binstock recalls. “In Grade 10, I started playing other sports; I played basketball and volleyball.” He eventually found greater passion for volleyball and played in the junior national team through his high school years. He later joined the volleyball team at the Univer-sity of Toronto, where he earned his bachelor of health and physical education. The coach of the www.canadianchiropractor.ca
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor December 2013: Page 31
