Day In The Life: Sports Medicine

The theme for The Fit Dish (hosted by Jill Conyers @ JillConyers.com, & Jessica Joy @ TheFitSwitch.org) is…Photo Collection: A Day in the Life!

My day-in-the-life tends to change every 2-ish weeks, but it just so happens that I’m on my Sports Medicine rotation right now, so it actually fits in with the whole fitfam + fitness thing! <3 (Yayuh!)

In case you missed my super-stealth announcement on what I’m doing on said rotation and/or don’t follow me on instagram…I’m working the Little League World Series right now!!!

Due to HIPAA and all that goodness, I’m not allowed to share any information on the specifics of the players, and was also advised to avoid the media as much as possible, which is entirely fine with me, because I get extremely uncomfortable when I get thrown into the spotlight. How I ever made it as a Music Performance major is beyond me.

That being said, I’m going to keep this post super-general!

The Grand Slam Parade took place the evening before the games started, so I walked downtown to check it out! :] There were ~50k people there (which is over 2x the size of this town), and it was awesome seeing how happy and excited everyone was!

The three teams pictured in here (top left, middle, bottom right) are from Uganda, Portland (Oregon), and Venezuela! The top right + bottom left = a string band known as “50 Shades of Hay.”

I went down the morning before to get my ID so they’d let me hang out behind the scenes!

I actually rarely ever watch any sports, and despite how much I love being outside, my “sports of choice” all happen to be indoors, and mostly what would be considered individual sports (powerlifting, gymnastics, MMA, dance).

The last baseball game I watched was in 2009 because my then-SO was an avid Phillies fan (twas one of my birthday presents to him). I also sat through many a football game because of this, but other than that, the last football game I watched was in high school, because we got extra credit in physics for attending the games and writing papers on physics-related concepts that we observed.

My preceptor showed me around to the places where I’d be chillin’ with the residents + athletic trainers (fun fact: did you know that I’m 2-3 classes from getting an Associate’s in Athletic Training? :O ), as well as the infirmary and the Grove.

Then he went to pick up his son, so he told me to feel free to wander around and explore.

“They told me I could be anything, so I became a baseball.”

We actually got rained out on the first day, so the opening ceremony was cancelled and the games were all postponed til the next day. I watched 5/8 of em’!

• Kampala (Uganda) vs. Santiago de los Caballero (Dominican Republic)
• Pearland (Texas) vs. Portland (Oregon)
• Barquisimeto (Venezuela) vs. Sydney (Australia)
• Bowling Green (Kentucky) vs. Bonita (California)
• Japan vs. Taipei (Taiwan)

We watch the pitch counts to make sure the athletes aren’t overdoing it and giving themselves Little League Elbow (also known as medial epicondylar apophysis, an overuse injury to the medial elbow from repetitive throwing motions).

First-line for running out on the field if there are any injuries is the athletic trainer + my preceptor. Second-line is the 3rd-year resident, followed by the 2nd-year resident, and then lastly, there’s me.

In other words, my job for my 2-week Sports Medicine rotation is to watch the baseball games, silently root for the teams I like while maintaining a neutral poker face, and to not be seen eating, taking pictures, or doing something stupid by ESPN. If you follow Little League at all, see if you can catch a glimpse of me in the dugout! :P (And send me a screenshot, because I’m cool with being “famous” if I’m just in the background!)

We get meal tickets for each game that we work, so hooray for not starving!

I sent a picture of the meal voucher to my friend because it reminded me of her roommate, who has apparently decided that it’s her job to police the things that my friend likes to eat. She makes disparaging judgmental comments every time she sees my friend eating sweets (even when she’s just getting them for me), which I find really messed up.

What gave her the idea that it was okay for her to shame someone’s eating habits? Did my friend ask for your opinion? Are you my friend’s dietitian? Is there any reason at all that you should be so judgmental? No! You’ve known her for a week. Shut yo’ face.

Anyway! I’m apparently not actually allowed to share pictures of the games at this time (which is a shame, because my seat is arguably the best there is), but if you come back in a couple weeks, it might be okay by then! I believe they are a-okay with sharing pictures of the audience though, so if I were to give an award to any crowd for the best cheering section, it’d most definitely go to Taiwan! (Mexico’s is pretty awesome too!)

My absolute favorite part of watching these games is just getting to see how excited and happy the kids are to be here–especially the kid-swarms! When someone hits a home run, the rest of the team will swarm out with congratulatory cheers, high-fives, hugs, and pats on the head all around. If the player is small enough, they’ll hoist him up and carry him off. It’s absolutely adorable. :]! I love how supportive they are of each other, and of the other teams too! (Good sportsmanship is awesome. <3 )

• What’s a day in your life like? Let me know in the comments! :D
• Do you follow any sports?
• What’s your favorite sport to watch? To play?

Click the image to read my other Dish The Fit posts! :]

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