The Sports Physical

Most activities such as competitive sports or camp require a physical. This is often best done as part of the yearly recommended well check with your pediatrician. However, we all know busy schedules, forms forgotten in a book bag, and timing rules regarding the physical can sometimes put you in a crunch.

We are happy to help in these instances. Download the required forms from www.tssaa.org/physical-forms and complete the history page before we arrive. Any physicals completed before April 15th will not count toward participation in the next school year. Students may not participate in practices or competition until they are medically cleared for participation.

So what happens if your student is not initially cleared by the primary doctor? First of all, this is uncommon for most healthy athletes and campers. However, if there are concerning red flags for heart disease, hypertension, findings suggestive of a condition called Marfan’s or if an athlete is currently injured your child may be referred to a specialist dealing specifically with those concerns like a Pediatric Cardiologist, Geneticist, or Orthopedist. In these rare cases, Healthy Sprouts would get in touch with your primary doctor and get this process started. On that note, it is VERY IMPORTANT to have a parent or guardian complete the HISTORY portion of the forms before the physician arrives.

During the pre-participation/sports physical, your child should wear shorts and a short sleeved t-shirt or tank top. Sneakers or athletic shoes should be worn rather than sandals or flip-flops.

If they wear glasses or contacts, make sure your child is wearing either one for their eye exam.

As part of the sport physical our provider will also review avoidance of common sports injuries, mouth guards, and safety sport glasses. We will also discuss avoiding premature single sport specialization as well as the associated risks and the importance of rest breaks throughout the year to avoid overuse injuries.