2019 WNBA Season Training Camp Begins Sunday, May 5th!

The 2019 WNBA Season is almost here!!! This week, the Seattle Storm Sports Medicine Staff gathered at Storm Headquarters to prepare for our upcoming team physicals and training camp!  Players will be starting to arrive in Seattle and get settled in their apartments with camp starting on Sunday, May 5th!  It was nice to see the Championship Trophies, including the most recent 2018 WNBA Championship Trophy, proudly on display along with catching up with all my sideline pals.  This will be my fifth season with the Storm and many of the medical providers have been there for at least three of those other seasons - so it's always a bit of a reunion getting back together after the off-season.

All of this is occurring in the same week as the Women's National Soccer League announcing their official roster for the 2019 World Cup and a group of over 200 professional women's hockey players announcing they'll be sitting out this upcoming season.  So much going on in women's sports!  We're facing a time of change.  You can see it in politics.  You can see it in education. You can see it on the news.  You can see it at work.  And, without question, you can see it in sports. It has been inspiring to see the platform athletes have through sports, and I do not take it for granted that I have the opportunity to stand on the sidelines and watch with a front row seat.  But, in the wake of all this change, we have the chance to embrace opportunities and seize every chance that presents itself.

So today, I'll highlight a little about what the beginning of the WNBA Season looks like for the medical team working behind the athletes. In truth - all sports teams require multiple teams to operate at their best.  You have the athletes on the court, the sports medicine providers - like the team doctor, athletic trainer, strength and conditioning coach, and other specialists - you have the business staff that makes sure the front office operates - and this can include your ticket sales team, marketing team... so many teams!

Our meeting was to get everyone organized. New members of the crew were introduced.  We reviewed the medical status of all of the incoming players.  This is helpful to prepare for our physical exams that will occur in the upcoming few days to know who is coming in injured and may need some rehab programming right from the start versus getting a strength and conditioning program ready.  We get details on who will still be playing overseas in the European Leagues - because some of the Storm players are going to be playing for championships in other countries and will join us later than other players.  We won't get into the discussion on why this occurs - it's financially based and it certainly increases the risk of injury on these athletes by not allowing them rest breaks or an off-season - which makes our physical exams even more important.

Truly, doing physicals for incoming WNBA players and attending training camp practices has been one of my favorite times to work with the team.  Here's why:

1) The WNBA has 12 teams with 12 players on each team - so there are 144 professional female basketball players in our league.  This compares to the 30 teams in the NBA which have 15 player spots available for a total of 450 possible jobs to play professional basketball.  That means, whoever gets invited to training camp is the cream of the crop, ultimate best at what they do.  Who doesn't want to meet, and work with, the greatest athletes in the sport they love?  Of the group that comes in, a handful won't make the team, but they will get exposure from their invitation to training camp which will help their future in basketball anyways.

2) The rookies are usually coming in from college, their first job away from home, and it's an awesome opportunity to help them in whatever way possible.  They all have different needs.  For example, one year, the Storm Strength Coach and I were doing our physical exams on a player who had come from college... she hadn't even graduated yet.  We asked her how she was settling into Seattle and she expressed some concerns about grocery shopping and cooking.  Her college team and college dining halls had fed them most of their meals - so she had never had to do those things before.  We could provide her with resources from day one of where to shop, what things to look for, and which players on the team were excellent cooks that they should ask for advise on techniques.  The team also has a nutritionist that they can meet with to help design meals, but for starters, we needed to make sure they stopped eating out every meal, because it is far too expensive and time consuming.

3) Some of the best basketball practices are during training camp.  Because there are only 12 spots on the team, these athletes are fighting hard for their spots.  At this level, they work hard almost all the time, but for sure this is some of their best basketball.  Training camp or the playoffs.  When it really matters the most.  And the coaching staff sets the tone for the whole season right from the start.  So you're just in for a good time if you're on the sidelines.

What will we do at team physicals?  Well - the team physician will go through the usual things that any other person would have done at a physical exam.  Height, weight.  Any pain?  How is the body moving?  How is strength?  Any recent illnesses?  Listen to heart and lungs, look in eyes, ears, and mouth. Any reason to get any blood tests?  Nothing out of the ordinary.  Hopefully you've had your own physical recently... and if it has been more than a year - schedule one!

The team Strength Coach and I will do movement screens that we have developed over the past few years.  When I was with the Connecticut Sun, our team physical therapist and strength coach did movement screens too, so I would imagine all the teams in the league are doing some sort of assessment to determine where they should start their strength and conditioning programs for each athlete and see how everyone looks.  As a physical therapist, I’m looking at their squats, jumping and landing, overhead motion, and some core strength tests.  If you're not assessing your athletes before a season, you're guessing with their training for the whole time.  Baseline measures are essential.  And that's about it.  Then we can prepare for the season!

I'm ready... who's coming to a game!?!  Go Storm!