Bowling Green City Schools partner with Med Center Sports Medicine for Athletic Training and Sports Medicine Services
Med Center Health (MCH) will provide Bowling Green High School and Bowling Green Junior HIgh School athletic training coverage for sporting practices and events including all athletics and activities recognized by the Bowling Green Board of Education: BGHS Archery, Baseball, Basketball (Boys & Girls), Cheer, Cross Country (Boys & Girls), Softball, E-sports, Football, Golf (Boys & Girls), Lacrosse (Boys & Girls), Soccer (Boys & Girls), Swimming (Boys & Girls), Tennis, (Boys & Girls), Track (Boys & Girls), and Volleyball, as well as BGJHS Archery, Baseball, Basketball (Boys & Girls), Cheer, Cross Country (Boys & Girls), Softball, Soccer (Boys & Girls), Track (Boys & Girls), and Volleyball.
Med Center Health Sports Medicine will work with administrators and coaches to coordinate athletic training and sports medicine coverage for practices, games, and playoff events, providing a full-time athletic trainer and supplemental clinical staff to assist with practices, games, and playoff events sanctioned by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. Three sports fellowship-trained physicians will direct the program.
The partnership between MCH Sports Medicine and Bowling Green City Schools includes efforts for student athlete safety, and student engagement. MCH Sports Medicine will provide annual physicals, and weekly sports injury screening clinics on Saturday mornings during varsity football season. As a member of the Sports Trauma and Overuse Prevention (STOP) Campaign, MCH Sports Medicine will work to educate athletes, parents, coaches, and healthcare providers about youth sports injuries and steps to keep young athletes healthy. Athletes of contact sports will also participate in the MCH Sports Medicine Concussion Program, where neurocognitive data is recorded and maintained using the Brain Check. The data serves as a baseline for comparison, to allow the medical team necessary information in the event an athlete is concussed.
MCH Sports Medicine will also offer a Student Athletic Trainer Program, directed by the school-based athletic trainer. The school-based trainer will serve as a mentor for high school students interested in a career in athletic training or sports physical therapy, and the program will include both an annual “boot camp” and opportunities to shadow athletic trainers and physical therapists in the clinical setting.
All services are provided to the school district free of charge. Any medical treatment beyond athletic training services will be billed as applicable.
BGHS Athletic Director Calvin Head says, “We are very excited about our new partnership with Med Center Health Sports Medicine. They have already hit the ground running, working with our athletes and coaches by providing free sports physicals and assessing injuries. The services and coverage they will be able to provide to all of our sports programs and student athletes are very extensive and will prove to be very beneficial to our student athletes health and recovery from injuries.”
MCH Sports Medicine provides services to Western Kentucky University, as well as eight area high schools: Allen County-Scottsville High School, Bowling Green Christian Academy, Butler County High School, Edmonson County High School, Franklin Simpson HIgh School, Hart County High School, Logan County High School, and Russellville High School.
