Get to know Huddersfield Town’s First Team and Academy staff
- ‘Know Your Role’ series continues
- Today we look at Lead Sports Injury Therapist Dave Hallam
- Dave helps to condition First Team players to avoid injury
With the coronavirus currently postponing Town’s fixture list, we’ve decided to introduce you to some of our First Team and Academy Staff – today we look at the Club’s Lead Sports Injury Therapist, Dave Hallam!
Dave’s role involves working closely with the rest of the First Team’s Performance Team to plan what conditioning work the players may need around upcoming training sessions and games.
His work plays a big part in both helping the First Team players to avoid injuries and assisting injured players in getting back to full fitness. Having played at semi-professional level, he got into the performance side of the game after watching his two sons on the pitch.
“After I had finished playing semi-professional football, it was an interesting subject for me to get into,” he said.
“One of the main reasons was whilst watching my two boys playing for their respective football teams, I was appalled by the lack of medical care offered to them during their games.”
Now, as Huddersfield Town’s Lead Sports Injury Therapist, he gave us an insight into what an average day in the job would involve.
“I have an early morning start; I leave home around 5.50am to avoid the traffic on the M62 and get to the training ground at around 7.10am, which allows me time to spend an hour in the gym.
“Then, the preparation for the day’s work begins with changing the water/chemicals in the hot and cold baths, preparing the buggy and checking all the medical equipment for the days training session.
“If possible, I also catch up on any work needed on the computer or objectives. We then have a Performance Team meeting to plan out the day’s/week’s session plans for squad and injured players.
“We’ll then greet the players on arrival and cater for their needs for the coming days work, as well as keeping check on all medical stock including medication and strappings. Then it’s on to the training field where I cover all first response medical issues.
“After training, we cater for the players’ post-training needs such as triage massages. Then we have some lunch and return to the treatment room to look after squad, including the injured players.”
Despite the many perks of Dave’s role, it doesn’t come without its challenges, and none more so than the current difficulties posed by the COVID-19 outbreak.
“(My biggest challenge at the Club) has been this one to date; the coronavirus.”
Dave noted that his favourite part of the job was the match day work and also had some words of advice for anyone looking to follow his footsteps and strive towards a similar role in the industry.
“Follow your dreams!”
