Football players

Creating Opportunity
Through Sports

Every year, millions of high school athletes are injured while playing their sports. Traumatic injuries such as ACL tears and ankle sprains can sideline athletes permanently, even costing some the chance to attend college.

Effective treatment is expensive and time consuming, and is not economically within reach to everyone. The OK2PLAY Foundation fills this gap with our injury prevention and rehabilitation programs, keeping athletes in play so they have more opportunities to achieve success in life.

Sponsor an athlete
Therapist treating an athlete's leg

Our philosophy on rehabilitation

Whether or not surgery is required, rehabilitation is needed after a traumatic injury to regain proper movement and prevent further injury. The ligaments, which are critical for proprioception, lag behind soft tissue in terms of healing time. Unfortunately most insurance benefits end and athletes may be cleared to play as soon as pain and swelling are gone and range of motion is normal, which doesn’t necessarily mean the ligaments are fully healed or functioning properly. Our rehabilitation programs at OK2PLAY return injured athletes to play only after the ligaments and nervous system have been retrained and once athletes have the confidence and strength to safely compete at a high performance level. Our goal is to not only treat existing injuries, but to keep athletes healthy once they return to their sport.

Many injuries can be prevented

Injuries can often be prevented through corrective exercise programs and warmup drills. For example, eccentric and isometric strengthening of the hamstrings and hip abductors decreases the chance of ACL injury, as does practicing correct form during agility and deceleration exercises. In our experience, injury rates in explosive sports are reduced when the warmup sequence effectively activates the neuromuscular system and decompresses the lower spine, especially if the athlete has been sitting for long periods leading up to their workout or competition. Often neglected in training programs, single leg proprioceptive and balance drills play a critical role in injury prevention because they improve spatial awareness and joint stability. All of OK2PLAY's programming is designed to prevent injuries, and through our educational initiatives we share our knowledge with coaches and athletic trainers who are the first line of defense.

Trainer assisting an athlete with a myofasical stretch exercise
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Through our work at the OK2PLAY Foundation, we keep more athletes healthy during high school so success in sports brings opportunities for college and career.

Learn about our Sports Injury Rehab Program >

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