It’s not every day you get to travel overseas for work, but Murrumbateman Physiotherapy’s Alison Coles was lucky enough to go to the Grand Masters Hockey World Cup 2018 in sunny Spain from late June to early July.
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Ms Coles was given the task of keeping the competing Australian Southern Cross Men’s Masters teams “fit and firing,” business partner Cameron McInnes said, through the world’s largest hockey tournament.
She did a fantastic job, not only bringing all four teams of 15 players home in one piece but also with two gold medals and a bronze!
“The teams showed fantastic participation,” Coles said.
Heading into a World Cup is no easy feat, but the teams knew they were in good hands with Ms Coles who has been looking after the Australian Southern Cross Men’s Masters since 2002.
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Both Coles and Mr McInnes are passionate about sports physio, getting involved in their local teams. McInnes was the physio for the Canberra team in the Aon Women's National University Sevens Competition 2017 and 2018.
In Spain, Coles was responsible for taking the teams through pre and post-game recovery, which included a four-day training campaign in the small village of Sitges, just south of Barcelona where the World Cup was held.
During the competition, Coles also had to take care of a player that received some nasty lacerations to their hand from a hit in the game.
“But other than that, they all came home pretty well unscathed,” Coles said.
“Now it’s back to reality.”
Murrumbateman Physiotherapy was opened at the end of last year and is operating out of Murrumbateman Medical three days a week. Coles takes care of clients on Monday and Wednesday, while McInnes steps in on Friday.
Coles had a practice for several years in Cooma, Snowy Mountains but now lives in Gundaroo and McInnes also recently moved to Murrumbateman to be closer to his wife’s family.
“There was a need for a physio in the local area and I was keen to become more involved in the local community,” McInnes said.
“We were fortunate to have Alison join the practice in February to expand our hours. Ali was also excited to work with the local community and we met through previous mutual work partners.
“Both Ali and myself share a similar style of physio practice, focusing on hands-on treatment, exercise prescription and a holistic approach.”
Appointments can be made through the pharmacy and the offered physiotherapy services can help with spinal and neck pain, post-surgical rehab and sporting injuries.
“Basically the whole gamut of physiotherapy,” said Coles.
Coles and McInnes also both offer acupuncture and can send patients off for x-rays if necessary.
They’re accredited through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and Work Cover, so can assist with workplace injuries as well.
“You don’t have to have a doctors referral to come to physiotherapy. We can be the first point of contact,” Coles said.
There are no more overseas trips planned for Coles this year, although the team she looked after in Spain will go onto the National Championships in October and from there, the Southern Cross team could be picked to tour overseas in 2019.
