Satdown with Doctor Aubery Green 04/05/11.
Many kids that grew up in the GTA in Toronto wanted to wear the Blue and White and play for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Naivety part is that there is also a tremendous amount of talent you must possess to play at such a high level, that not many people have. I sat down with Dr. Aubrey Green to discuss being in the front lines of the other side of sports ‘the medical side.’
“I think I’d be lying if I didn’t sit in class at Chiropractic school thinking I didn’t want to work with professional athletes”
Aubrey Green began pursuing a career that would allow him to be with World-Class athletes on a constant basis. He went to the University of Western where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts but that was only step one to the plan. From there he went onto receive the Doctor of Chiropractic from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College. Aiming to extend his qualifications, he completed the Contemporary Medical Acupuncture course for heath practitioners and the Sports Medicine Acupuncture course at McMaster University.
Sports have many ways of being interpreted into life. In sports you sometimes need lucky bounces to upstart your career. Green got that during the NHL lockout season in 2004-2005, where he bumped into then Dallas Starts Forward Jason Arnott. Arnott was looking for a new sports therapist to help him keep in shape during the offseason. Green had never worked with a type- A athlete like Arnott but still managed to used his tools to help Arnott.
“ I give a lot of credit and take a lot of pride with my relationship with Arny. He came to me, he had faith in me. I didn’t have the resume, experience or credentials at the time. He put his health in your hands and there is nothing greater then that. Their body and health are their biggest asset, its what puts food on their table.”
Six years later, Green remains Arnott’s personal trainer and has established not only a business but a personal relationship as well.
Another example of Sports being compared to life is like in High- School where word travels fast. Green does not mind that at all, in fact he embraced it how else was he to get his name out. Arnott told other players in the league about Green and his abilities, opening many doors by landing him a more star-studded cliental. Some of his cliental includes: Cortland Finnergan, Matt Stafford and Kyle Vanden Bosche of the Tennessee Titans. Henrik Zetterberg and Kris Draper of the Detroit Red Wings, Jarome Iginla and newly added Alex Ovechkin.
“ I Think at 1st it was the element of Kids in a Candy Store, I would like to have played Sports but the cards weren’t there for me, so the next best thing would be to work with them on that level and have an impact on their on-field performance. You feel like you’re in the fire.”
The part that college could not prepare him for was the emotion that goes into each player. When I sat down with Green, four of his major clients (Zetterberg, Draper, Arnott, Ovechkin) were at risk of being eliminated for the playoffs.
“I feel like im in the heat of the battle. Washington and Detroit are both down in their series and especially in the playoffs there are so many Highs and Lows. I also have the Highs and Lows, I’m not on the ice but I have the same emotion into it”
Considering the amount of time and work that goes into each of the four players on a daily basis it begins to become a lot of pressure. Hockey players don’t worry as much when they go on the ice, they have been doing it their entire life its natural for them. For Green though its not the same feeling, if a player looks out of sync on the ice or is running out of breath constantly, that is on him. It’s a huge load to take on, someone else’s health and life in your hands. If you do things wrong it could potentially end with the player getting severely injured. When George Clooney goes up to receive an Oscar he thanks the people that got him there and the people that helped him. When an Athlete receives his award he thanks his team and owner and walks off stage. They forgot about the people behind the scenes. The people that day-in and day-out keep everything held together and working. The truth is that players need more then just talent to become the best they also need resources. Those resources are the people that keep you at your strongest, competing with the best athletes in the world.
“They way you approach everything you do is important to longevity. To an athlete your body is your asset you better learn everything you can about to maximize it.”
Athletes are not like guys at work who go to the local bar for happy hour. They always have to be cautious of what is being sent into their bodies. The occasional piece of cake is allowed because of how hard they are working but only in moderation.
“ I Work with top tier athletes there is a reason there at that level there look for every edge. Everyone in the NHL is great to reach that level they are not hack. It’s what separates them that will make them great. It’s their approach, mentality, commitment…. But most importantly their HEALTH”
Green deals with Athletes’ on a 1-on-1 basis to look at process, and see’s what needs tweaking, but with the commitment so high the risks of further injuries not only to the body but the brain is high. Players don’t think in the future, how can you? You cannot predict the unexpected, but with every risk there is a repercussion. For football players who statistically have three to five years in the league, they happen sooner then later.
“ Risk. These guys understand the risk at this level, but there passion really shows through and it’s worth the risk.”
People look at a movie as a production, not many people think of what goes into the production. Same thing applies with athletes. People admire the Crosby’s and Ovechkin’s because of their pure talent but it’s the therapists and medical staff that keep them on their feet. Setting routines and plans that the player follows to manage their health properly. World Class Athletes use their bodies as means of pay. We have seen the likes of Joe Theisman and Dennis Byrd whose careers suddenly came to a Halt. All the time they worked to get to this spot, crushed in one instant. No other means for a job therefore no steady income. It is the reason that athletes must take every means to ensure they always stay healthy, and that is why the athletes go to Dr. Aubrey Green.
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