Have you helped an athlete transition from a debilitating injury to full recovery?
Has an inspirational colleague really raised the bar in sports therapy excellence?
Do you work as part of a team that works with professional athletes, providing vital pre- and post-event treatments or pitch-side support?
Perhaps you have given an athlete the tools to overcome mental and physical challenges that resulted from injury?
Maybe you know a therapist whose injury prevention strategies have helped sports people continue to perform at the highest level?
If any of the above sounds familiar, we’d love to hear from you. You can nominate yourself for an award, or put forward an inspirational colleague or team.
You will need to demonstrate excellence in practice, in one of the following areas:
Client service: This ‘hallmark of excellence' is about delivering quality care and outcomes for clients. It's when what you do really benefits the health and wellbeing of your clients.
Research: For members who are involved in developing or carrying out therapy research, this award celebrates the small study as well as the large clinical trial.
Innovation: Focuses on the imaginative and creative use of original or adapted ideas or techniques - for example, the development of a new massage product, teaching aid or therapy service.
Leadership: Aimed at members who make things happen and encourage and inspire others, from organising a team of therapists for a charitable event, to leading a team providing a therapy service.
Representation: For members who have gone the extra mile to promote awareness about therapies and the importance of high standards, or who represent the FHT on therapy lead bodies, councils and committees.
This is your year – enter now!
Last year’s winner for FHT Sports Therapist of the Year was Nefeli Tsiouti, MFHT:
An international member of the FHT, Nefeli is a sports massage therapist with a background in dance and dance science. As such, the focus of her work and research has been to improve health and reduce injury in dancers, performing artists and other movers in general. From first-hand experience, Nefeli knows how prone this group is to injury and that some performers, such as breakers (or break dancers), are not invested in properly when it comes to injury prevention education. To address this, she collaborated with other dance and medical experts to conduct research and offer conditioning, strengthening and injury prevention workshops and lectures to dancers in several different countries. She is also currently still conducting research into dancers’ injuries, physiology and biomechanics, as an Associate Researcher at Cyprus Musculoskeletal and Sports Trauma Research Centre, and collaborating with universities in the UK and Brasil. In addition, Nefeli recently received first prize, along with a prize for Most Innovative Idea, at a EUC-Peak Entrepreneurial competition for business start-ups in Cyprus, where she pitched her idea to investors regarding a Performing Arts Medicine and Science Institute that she will be launching in 2020 in Cyprus. Speaking about her win, Nefeli says: ‘I am honoured to have received the Sports Therapist of the Year award since it gives me international recognition for my work as a researcher and a therapist. FHT has been a very supportive organisation, and I know that this award will open many more doors for me and my career.’ |
