Athletic Training

Grad student gets his kicks with the Rockettes in NYC practicum

Colleen Rich — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 20:09:29 +0000

Grad student gets his kicks with the Rockettes in NYC practicum Colleen Rich Wed, 11/29/2023 - 15:09

This holiday season, ��AV graduate student Kyle Delin is working at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. A student in the MS in Athletic Training Program in Mason's School of Kinesiology, Delin is doing his practicum as an athletic training student associate with Radio City Rockettes’ Athletic Training department under Madison Square Garden (MSG) Entertainment and is helping with the Rockettes’ Radio City Christmas Spectacular show.

Mason graduate student Kyle Delin on stage at Radio City Music Hall. Photo provided

Tell us a little about your practicum experience.

Since I’ve been here, I have been working with other athletic trainers, physical therapists, and doctors and have learned a lot from each of them. I’ve also been able to provide evaluation and treatments and prevention techniques for injuries to the performers that they may have sustained during rehearsals. While the show stars the Rockettes, they are not the only performers that I have been able to work with. There are more than 100 cast members between the Rockettes, ensemble, singers, etc. involved in the show, which has been open opened to the public since Nov. 17. From this point on, I will be working with the other athletic trainers to cover the shows until close of show in January.

What does a typical day look like in your practicum experience?

My typical day consists of reporting to Radio City Music Hall to complete pre-rehearsal/show treatments, covering run-throughs of the show/performances, complete post-rehearsal/show treatments. However, these next few weeks will be a bit different because of a handful of appearances that the Rockettes will be having, from the Today Show to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I feel lucky to have the opportunity to either attend the appearance or attend the rehearsal preparations for the appearance on site.

How did you find out about this opportunity?

I learned about this opportunity through one of my professors, Jatin Ambegaonkar. He had received an email from an MSG employee regarding the position and had our program director share it with everyone in the program. I originally did not believe I would get the position when I had applied, but decided to take the chance. I was fortunate enough to be able to interview for the position with the creator of the department and my current mentors/preceptors. The whole process for getting the position, from application to interviews to receiving my offer, took about four months, and I couldn’t feel any luckier.”

How has this experience shaped your interests/career plans?

This experience has opened my eyes to the numerous possibilities for my career. I’ve enjoyed working with everyone and could see myself working in this type of setting. However, I also can see myself working in other settings as well, based on my experiences at my other practicum sites. At this point, it’s difficult to say where I would like my career to take me, but either way I know that I will be happy.

What has been your favorite memory of the practicum so far?

So far, my favorite memory is seeing each of the parts of the show come together. I’ve been able to watch each of the numbers from initial rehearsal to final product come together with choreography, props, stage elements, costumes, etc. and it’s been amazing to see.

What advice can you share to students going into a new practicum experience?

For all students going into a new practicum experience, take the opportunity to learn as much as you can. New techniques, new methods, everything and anything. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. And don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Everyone does and it will be all right. Make sure to talk with your mentor/preceptor, and listen to their feedback. No one is ever perfect, especially not during practicum experiences. This is the time to make mistakes and to learn. It can be nerve-racking and there will be times that you will be completely lost, but it will be okay. And you will get through it. Believe in yourself, rely on what you’ve learned from your professors, but also be open to criticism and open to learning other methods/techniques that your mentors/preceptors may have to offer. Doing this will only make you a better professional.

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Athletic Training

Technology on the field and court helps Mason student-athletes in the gym

Colleen Rich — Mon, 23 Oct 2023 14:39:54 +0000

Technology on the field and court helps Mason student-athletes in the gym Colleen Rich Mon, 10/23/2023 - 10:39

Corey Dulak-Sigler said he doesn’t necessarily have a philosophy when it comes to athletic training.

Instead, ��AV’s head strength and conditioning coordinator figures that “there’s a time and place for everything, and adjustments are the most important part.”

Mason athletic trainer Corey Dulak-Sigler holds the Catapult harness. Photo by Cristian Torres/Office of University Branding

His study on the workload demands of Mason’s women’s lacrosse players falls squarely into that parameter.

“For me, in my realm of strength and conditioning, it helped validate what I was doing in the weight room to help the players keep those qualities that make them do well on the field, and make tweaks where I need to,” Dulak-Sigler said.

The study, titled “Analysis of Accumulated Workloads and Performance Testing Across a Collegiate Women’s Lacrosse Season,” was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research and is believed to be the first to focus solely on the training demands and in-season physical demands of Division I women’s lacrosse players, timely research given lacrosse's return to the Olympics in 2028.

Joining Dulak-Sigler as co-authors of the study are Margaret T. Jones, director of the Patriots Performance Lab; Andrew Jagim, director of sports medicine research at the Mayo Clinic Health System; Nicholas M. Kuhlman, a doctoral research fellow at the University of Connecticut; and Mason alumnus Jennifer B. Fields, PhD Kinesiology '20, an assistant professor of nutritional science at the University of Connecticut.

The study, conducted during the 2022 season, looked at the accumulated workload demands of players during games and practices to assess the most productive training for the athletes to meet the gameday workloads.

In a 16-week study, athletes were tracked on their total distance run, changes in direction, high speed distance, and heart rate.

This was done through Catapult load monitoring technology, a three-inch tall, one and a half-inch wide, half-inch thick device worn in a harness between the shoulder blades. It includes an accelerometer that monitors movements, a gyroscope that measures rotation, and a magnetometer that measures direction and orientation. A separate small device monitors heart rate.

The data is pinged to satellites and then to a central computer. A receiver can provide real-time data for use during games. But data from practices are generally accessed later through an app, where it was analyzed by Dulak-Sigler and Jones at the Patriots Performance Lab.

“We have a unique situation here at George Mason where the strength coach and scientists work together,” Jones said. “That’s not commonplace.”

That kind of collaboration is a hallmark of a Mason core value, which is to provide a positive and collaborative community that contributes to the well-being and success of every member.

But the information goes nowhere if coaches are not on board, Jones said.

Not an issue, Mason women’s lacrosse coach Kara Mupo said.

^{Having that data allows us to do something called undulate,” Mupo said. “That means we change our training schedule based on our load. We meet certain benchmarks, so when we get to that gameday, we have solidified a large chunk of our training to comprise those numbers we’ll see on gameday.”}

“Credit to Corey in that he has embraced this technology, and done a deep dive into it, more so than other people would, and he had an interest in working with us [the Patriots Performance Lab] to write this up,” Jones said. “So I don’t know if we didn’t have Corey if we would have been able to get this done.”

The lacrosse team is not the only Mason squad using Catapult. Women’s basketball and soccer and men’s basketball also use the system.

Faith Brown, the strength and conditioning coach for women’s basketball and volleyball, has also worked with Jones as lead author on several papers on load monitoring, with two more scheduled to be published.

Load monitoring and management will be key during basketball’s preseason, Brown said.

“That preseason period is meant to prepare the athletes for the demands of games, so we want to have practices where they experience higher loads than what they experience in games,” Brown said. “We want to make sure their bodies are comfortable and can withstand the stress.”

What did Dulak-Sigler find as he dug into the numbers? That the load training he used with the lacrosse team was appropriate for the loads the athletes faced during games.

“We looked at all the load monitoring of the in-season, and it ended up great,” he said. “No one got worse. Everybody stayed the same or better. It was more of a validation that we were doing things correctly.”

“Without Corey being a major resource, breaking down practice games and really educating me and my staff, we would have this amazing resource we wouldn’t be using to its full advantage,” Mupo said. “We say all the time, success is measured in the win column. But we can’t get the wins unless we’re healthy and safe. That’s the measurement we use.”

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Grad student gets his kicks with the Rockettes in NYC practicum

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Technology on the field and court helps Mason student-athletes in the gym

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