Professional athletes are willing to pay for practitioners who are able to provide for their needs. “Acupuncture and muscle work help my body prepare itself because as a professional athlete your body breaks down even when you’re not in pain.”— Jonah Gadjovich, Vancouver Canucks (NHL) “I enjoy acupuncture and soft tissue [work]. Personally, I like to get my hips and low back worked on every day.”— Dylan Sikura, Chicago Blackhawks (NHL) “I’ve always responded well to muscle work but the acupuncture has definitely helped me over the years. The more a chiropractor can offer the better. I think getting treatment all year long helps me maximize my performance so I can play as long as possible.”— Zach Collaros, CFL quarterback, 2012 Grey Cup Champion During the 2017 season, Canadian-born, Super Bowl XLVIII Champion and Seattle Seahawks tight-end Luke Willson reached out to Dr. Grujovski to receive performance care on a regular basis. From here his NFL roster began to grow. Treatment arrangements need to be set with players since they are often travelling all over the country during the season. Dr. Grujovski figures out number of treatments delivered over a set number of days by taking a look at their schedules. “Athletes typically arrange flight itineraries and cover airfare, hotel costs and pay a daily fee that is set by myself. Other times, depending where the athlete is, they will travel to me,” Grujovski says. “Typically a trip will be over the weekend from Friday to Sunday, or two to three days during the week. Treatments are done daily and can last anywhere from two to three hours, and are occasionally broken up into morning and evening sessions depending on the athletes time commitment to practices and meetings. www.canadianchiropractor.ca LONGEVITY WINS In my article “For The Love of The Game” (2016), I revealed that chiropractors in the CFL and NFL are not handsomely rewarded financially, and in fact many work for free and some team physicians actually pay the club to be the official team doctor. I wondered if this could play a role in an athlete’s decision to pay for their own chiropractor, rather than using the free services provided by their club. “It simply comes down to mathematics. On a football team there are 60 or so players, so time constraints do not allow the athletes to get the necessary one-on-one attention that is needed to finely tune them to perform at their best,” Grujovski says. “I think today’s athletes realize the importance of keeping their bodies tuned up for performance because playing their sport is not only their passion but their livelihood. Their longevity will lead to better overall compensation allowing these athletes to retire comfortably without having to worry about their financial future. It is an investment for these athletes to seek out and pay out of pocket for their own chiropractors in order to secure and prolong their playing futures.” To echo Dr. Grujovski, I recall in 2011 Wayne Smith of the Toronto Argos (CFL) suffered a knee injury and was contemplating retirement. He received a treatment combination of acupuncture and muscle work and he went on to play six more seasons and earn hundreds of thousands of dollars along with a Grey Cup win in 2012. Times may change but clearly the needs of athletes seem to be static today compared to seven years ago. Professional athletes are choosing chiropractors with a variety of manual tools to complement and enhance sports performance. April 2019 Canadian Chiropractor 15
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor April 2019: Page 15
