My name is Aidan Raftery. I am a Sport Therapist. I set up my Sports Therapy business back in 2013. I work with Clubs and Teams on match days and training sessions and tournaments. I have worked with teams, clubs, players and athletes at all levels.  I also have a practice where people can come to me.  I have treated a wide range of injuries since setting up my business.  I have worked with the Ireland Senior 6 Aside Football Squad, Ireland Diabetic Futsal Squad, Sparta Belfast Futsal Club, Armagh and Louth Senior Hurlers. I am currently Cover Physio with League Of Ireland Club Athlone Town.

In recent years, I have become interested in learning more about Concussion and Concussion in sport. This comes from my experience of working with a rugby club and seeing how common Concussion has become in sport.  I have always wanted to do a course in Concussion and I was delighted to do a Concussion in Sports course which was an online course through UCD.  I found it very interesting.  I did have a knowledge of concussion through different levels of First Aid courses that I did, but the course I did through UCD gave me a deeper knowledge of concussion.  Now that I have done the course, it means that I can be of more benefit to clubs, teams, players and athletes.  I have good experience of dealing with head injuries in a wide range of sports from assessment, knowing what questions to ask  to deciding whether a player can play on or has to come off and giving advice and handing over to paramedics if paramedics are there or are call or advising that they need to go ahead.  Over the last number of years, there has been more awareness on concussion and what it involves, and this is due to high profile players suffering concussion.  There is, however, a difference between knowing it and treating it as when a head injury occurs you have to know what you are doing as, if left untreated or if the player or athlete is not assessed or treated properly, it can become very serious.

I am delighted to say that I present a sports show called Friday Sport on Rosfm94.6 Community radio and I wanted to cover concussion on my sports show to help raise awareness. On Linkedin, I met Heidi Kivimaa who is the CEO and Co Founder of ACT Head Impact Tracker and we messaged on LinkedIn, and we decided that we could join forces to play our part in raising awareness to help educate people on the does and don’ts and signs and symptoms of Concussion.  So myself and Heidi did a podcast on Concussion which was broadcasted on Friday Sport on Rosfm94.6 Community Radio.

PARTNERSHIP

Heidi sent me on  an ACT Head Impact Tracker so I could have a look at it and see how it works with a view to getting a number of them so Clubs, Teams, Players and Athletes could order them from me and due to my connections, I would be able to do demonstrations for Clubs, Teams, Players and Athletes to show them how it operates and to explain the benefits of having the device. When you order your ACT Head Impact Tracker, you will be able to download the app to your phone and set up the profile. Before a match you up it on using the band that is also available with it.  You put it on before a match or training. What the ACT Head Impact Tracker does is it measures the force of an impact to the head or body. Having spoken to Heidi more about it, there are 2 baselines which helps to decide on if it is concussion or not.  How an impact is measured is G force.  The baseline is 80 for a male and 60 for a female. There is also software you can download to your laptop or computer. Myself and Heidi have discussed the Act Head Impact tracker with 2 people involved in GAA For All.

I would also like to mention Shane Moran from Curadh Sport who are the Irish Distributors for the Act Head Impact Tracker here in Ireland.  I am delighted to announce that AR Sports Therapy now an official partner with ACT Head Impact Tracker, and Curadh Sport.  This partnership allows myself and my other business partners to bring you this product to by which is available my website and Social Media platforms.  However, before you decide to buy the device please find further information on the ACT Head Impact Tracker. As well as that, before you by if you or your Club or team would like, I can also call to your team or club and do a demonstration to show you how it works and also answer any questions you may have.  If you are an individual player or athlete and you are interested in buying the Act Head Impact Tracker, the same applies to you I can do a demonstration for you before you buy.  This can be done online via video call or I can visit you to show you.

Having used it myself and experimenting with the device and learning how to use It, I am very impressed with it. AR Sports Therapy, Act Head Impact Tracker and Curadh Sport are delighted to bring you this product which Players and coaches would benefit from.  And through this partnership we want to continue to educate players, coaches and families about concussion and we want to use help people further to find new ways to help reduce the occurrence of Concussion.  We would love to hear your feedback and questions and experiences of concussion for future Concussion Podcasts myself and Heidi will be doing.  You can email arsportstherapyclinic@outlook.ie or call 0894304496 or just refer to the website for more information or if you have any questions we would be delighted to hear from you.

Also, I want to give a mention of thanks to Rosemary O’Shaughnessy who has a business called Digital Manager. Rosemary runs my website www.arsportsinjuriesclinicireland.com. and I just want to thank her for all her help.

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I am delighted to support this online initiative, which is as relevant to sporting environments as other workplaces.

Ireland’s VOICE against WORKPLACE PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE including Coercive & Controlling behaviours is growing and gaining support. 


Join the Event 16th October 2024 3pm GMT

This is Ireland‘s 6th year joining Workplace Bullying Awareness Week.
Join Global On-line International Conference Founder – Linda Crockett Global Workplace Psychological Safety Expert Workplace Bullying Awareness Week. Founder of the event Gary Namie, PhD USA to partake in this on-line conversation with international specialists & change-makers around the world! This event is now supported in Ireland by #Safeguarding Ireland, #NEWKD, Kerry Women’s Centre, Haven Horizons, Adapt Kerry, Women’s Refuge and SICAP (The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme). Aidan Raftery #Sports Injuries. Dr Caroline Munyi,

Learn about what the GPA is all about?

I recently did a podcast from which you can learn about what the GPA does in real life.

The Gaelic players association or the GPA as it is commonly known as, has been around for a while since 1999 and whilst we have all heard of it lots of people actually do not realise what the GPA is actually doing and the great work that it does out there in real life for players.

Our GAA sports players are non-professional but give so much to our local communities and indeed the country and its identity on a national level so the GPA should be promoted because its purpose is the wellbeing and welfare of our GAA players.

I recently had the privilege of conducting an interview with former Laois county footballer Colm Begley which you can listen to below.

The interview gives plenty of information about:

• what the ethos of the GPA is
• what it does,
• its history
• and a lot more besides

What the GPA is all about – more to learn from the interview?

I believe that many of you may find this interview of interest because Colm Begley was an inter-county player as well as being involved with the GPA itself and this allowed the interview to delve into other interesting topics such as:

• Whether players and managers should have a greater say in-game rule changes
• We discuss GPA scholarships which many may not have heard about including the fact that the GPA has 23 partnerships with colleges around Ireland
• We discuss the mental health of players and the help that is available
• Reconstruction of the championship discussion as well as the question of players’ retirement and lots more

In closing the GPA has a website that you can visit through the link in the button:

 Finally To remind you I offer various services to both GAA players and clubs- Treatments

Award From Ballinagare Manor Utd FC- 2023

A new year in 2023 got off well for me as I received an Award From Ballinagare Manor Utd FC on the 2nd of January during a fundraiser and presentation night.

As a part of the backend staff, being the 1st team Sports Therapist for Ballinagare Manor Utd, it is always special to receive the recognition that all of us in the background have our important roles to play in sports in Ireland, so I am writing this short blog post to say a big thank you to all at Ballina Manor FC for this recognition – it is much appreciated and makes it all so worthwhile playing my little role.

A PICTURE OF MY TROPHY BELOW FOR CLUBMAN OF THE YEAR 2021-2022

BELOW IS A PICTURE OF ME WITH DAVID HUSSEY (club committee member) ON THE NIGHT

FINALLY, A SCREENSHARE BELOW WITH DETAILS OF THE OTHER AWARD RECIPIENTS ON THE NIGHT

A big thanks to all of you…..

Aidan

Hats Off To Buccaneers R.F.C u14’s

Learn More About the Final at the links below:

Learn More About the Buccaneers R.F.C club at the link below: