Although his contemporaries in the profession may have already had a head start on him working towards that same goal, Binstock is in no hurry and wants to keep working to be the best he can be in both his sport and his profession. After realizing his Olympic dream in 2012, thoughts of retiring from his sport-ing career and concentrating on his chi-ropractic practice crossed his mind. What he experienced at the London Olympics, however, only served to galvanize his commitment to the sport. So he contin-ued on and is now aiming to play in the 2015 Pan-Am Games in Toronto. “I didn’t foresee what kind of experi-ence the London Olympic was and it was something I have never experienced in my life – something that I don’t know if I’ll be able to do ever again.” So, with support from his family and friends, he decided to continue on and find out how far he could take his athletic career. “Throughout your life, the window of opportunity to be able to physically compete at the top of the world is so small,” Binstock says. “A lot of people say, ‘you’ll have your whole life to work; it’s such a small time that you could actually do what you wanted to do at this level.’” His decision to keep going at the sport he loves best while building his career as a chiropractor was not without challenges – particularly on the finan-cial front. As a national team player, Binstock gets a stipend of $900 a month, for the 10 months that he is in training for competition. “So, my choice to continue was based on the love of the game, instead of the money,” says Binstock. He believes his sporting experience and the benefits he gets from his high-performance training, however, allow him to gain some valuable knowl-edge and expertise, and prepare him for when he pursues a specialized practice in sport chiropractic – the path he wants to take for his career. At 32 years old, Binstock is confident he has plenty of time to build his chiro-practic career and establish his own practice – when he is finally ready to put down the ball and retire his jersey. For more profiles, visit www.canadianchiropractor.ca. www.canadianchiropractor.ca December 2013 Canadian Chiropractor 33
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