Too many students are sustaining injuries while participating in sports at Boothbay Region High School (BRHS). In the 2024-2025 season, two BRHS girls’ basketball players tore their ACLs, and this spring, two baseball players did the same. Each case led to months of recovery and ended the athlete’s respective sport’s season.

BRHS should have physical therapy available on site and provide more education on injury prevention to help their athletes prevent devastating injuries like these.

The risk of sports-related injuries can be greatly reduced through proper strengthening and injury-prevention measures. Just up the road in Newcastle, Lincoln Academy employs full time athletic trainer, Megan Day, who works with athletes on the prevention, evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation of athletic injuries. Other schools such as Camden, Oceanside, and Medomak also do this. BRHS does not currently have an athletic trainer or physical therapist who works at the school.

Instead, injured students can make an appointment with a nurse practitioner from MaineHealth who operates in our school-based health clinic Monday-Thursday, 8-12. The nurse practitioner can refer a student to a physical therapist located at the St. Andrews campus; however, although this is incredibly useful, the problem is that the student’s parents must transport them to their appointments which is a struggle for some families. 

After surveying our student body, with a question titled: “Have you been able to get professional help for [your] injury(s)?” I found that almost 30% of the 86 students who responded could either “sometimes” receive help for their injuries or couldn’t at all due to “transportation” or other issues. Seeing as 61.6% of students reported suffering at least one significant muscle injury, with about 74% reporting multiple injuries, and 49% having been injured three or more times, this is very worrying. As an athlete myself, it’s heartbreaking to see so many of my teammates sidelined because of these injuries, and I believe we need better resources and education to help prevent them. As shown by the survey I conducted, this service is something our student body would truly use and benefit from. Only 14% of the 86 students surveyed would refuse to see a physical therapist at school if injured, showing strong support for this idea across the student body.

This is not a new idea, as Aminda LaBrecque, the program coordinator at our MaineHealth School-Based Health Center, shared with me: the high school used to have a physical therapist come in from 2:30-4 for one or two days a week; however, this program was stopped in 2015 due to staffing issues at the St. Andrews location. Given the demonstrated need for this service, the school board should consider restarting the program. 

Physical therapy can be costly, so how will these services be covered? Ms. LaBrecque explained that the school might be able to obtain a grant to help pay for the physical therapy services, but it could take some time to establish, so the likelihood of this being a solution is uncertain. On the other hand, the old program was simply “a PR strategy – no charges, just a Public Relations offering.” While that option should be explored, its viability is unknown. Ms. LaBrecque explained that “many students have MaineCare” or other insurance which would cover all or most of the cost of physical therapy. For those who don’t have insurance, the school already offers a financial aid program to assist with health care. The school health center has the appropriate paperwork for students and families to apply for financial aid. This means that every student should have coverage for physical therapy at the school through these services or through their existing insurance.

As shown above, the program would greatly benefit our school community, our athletes, and all students at BRHS. For those reasons, the BRHS school board should approve a position for a physical therapist to work at the school for a few hours a week.

Aside from providing an opportunity for students to attend physical therapy, changing our Personal Fitness curriculum to more heavily focus on injury prevention is also important. Personal Fitness is a physical education class that is a graduation requirement for all BRHS students. When asked if using Personal Fitness (PE) to educate students on injury prevention was a good idea, one student pointed out that “not many coaches teach you [injury prevention] and some people don't have coaches because they lift on their own,” so having a unit on injury prevention in PE would be greatly beneficial for everyone. Another student commented, “Yes. It would be very helpful to everyone. Injuries are a serious thing, and they shouldn't be brushed off.” These responses are among many I received, indicating that students find the idea of learning about injury prevention to be highly beneficial. In addition, our Physical Education and Health instructor, Dennis Dacus, said that, while injury prevention is covered slightly in Health class, “adding an Injury Prevention aspect of PE would be great.”

Some possible units that could be added to our PE classes could be simple tests for weakness in the knees, ankles, and other injury-prone areas. Additionally, simple exercises and stretches could be covered that help strengthen/prevent injuries in specific areas. These are all simple things that would not require extra money or training, to quote Mr. Dacus: “I would need to do some research, but nothing too drastic.” This education would not replace physical therapy, but it could help our students understand more about injury prevention and give them a better basis to prepare their bodies for athletics or other physical activities.

As a member of multiple school sports teams, I have witnessed many sports-related injuries that have been catastrophic to both the players and teams, and I see the need to provide physical therapy at our school. As a supplement to this program, a deeper dive into injury prevention should be taken in our PE classes to aid all students in protecting their bodies.

Our school board should look into options to reestablish physical therapy availability at our high school in order to keep our student-athletes safe and ensure that BRHS sports can thrive for years to come.