One of the most favorite sports in Australia is Australian Rules Football (AFL). To people outside the country it is regarded as somewhat odd as they quite simply have observed no sports activity like it, but they are in awe of just what tremendous sports athletes those who participate in the game at the professional elite level can be. It is a completely professional men's competition of Australian rules football and it has been competed for over a hundred years. It started in the state of Victoria, however some other states have clubs in what is now viewed as a nationwide league. The eighteen professional teams which play in the AFL spend greatly in the sports sciences and sports medicine to get the most out of the players in every team. The sports medicine team with each club has a podiatrist associated to help take care of the foot injuries and shoes needs of the athletes. The function of Podiatrists in the Australian Football League in Australia is recognized as a template of how podiatrists could be involved with professional clubs worldwide.
For one of the episodes of the podiatry associated livestream, PodChatLive the hosts chatted with 5 of the podiatrists related to AFL clubs to examine the world leading template for Podiatry inside an elite sports league and the emerging role of the newly formed, AFL Podiatry Association. The Podiatrists that were on this event were Ben Holland from the North Melbourne Kangaroos, Emma Poynton from the Western Bulldogs, Nicki Quigley with the Hawthorn Hawks, Todd Brown from the Geelong Cats and Tom May with the Adelaide Crows. They talked about the demands of AFL and just how that has an effect on the players and just what the prevalent injuries observed. There was an excellent discussion in regards to the footwear worn along with the challenges that can bring. There was additionally a discussion of the preseason screening process method that is commonly adopted in the 44-man squads. The live was broadcast live on Facebook, but is also available these days on YouTube.