With the summer in full swing, the Red Rock High girls basketball team is taking advantage of their brief sabbatical to fine tune their game. 
Coming off a third-place finish in the Bradshaw Mountain Summer Classic, the girls are looking to better coordinate the aspect of the game that takes place before tip off; Stretching.

In the world of athletics, there is nothing worse than an injury that sidelines a player for the season fate that is all too familiar to the girls basketball team as senior-to-be Mary Westervelt was sidelined for the majority of last season due to an injury to her anterior cruciate ligament.  In sports, all injuries are bad, but few are worse than injuries to the ACL. The ACL is of immeasurable importance to all athletes as a ligament that aids in the stabilization of the knee joint.  The ACL works to stop anterior movement of the tibia off of the femur as well as preventing hyper­extension, a straightening of the joint that goes beyond its normal range of motion. 

According to Frank Noyes, M.D., depending on the sport, females are two to 10 times more likely to suffer from a serious knee ligament injury than their male counterparts. In addi­tion, roughly two-thirds of all ACL injuries occur in non-contact situations such as jumping, landing or a rapid change in direction; all of which are funda­mental components of the game of basketball. 
Just as athletes prepare for competition with unwavering dedication, the ACL must be treated the same. It is a ligament that can be trained and strengthened in order to do its job more effectively. 
With the help of local Physical Therapist Robin Nichols, the girls are engaging in an intensive, four-week injury preven­tion clinic. 

“I’m running the kids through plyometrics, agility, strength training and flexibility exercises in order to help the athletes prevent ACL injuries or any sort of knee injuries. It is to help them get stronger.” Nichols said. “We see a lot of the kids come over to us injured and I would rather get to them before. That’s what my goal is.”  Nichols’ ambition for the athletes is aimed toward competitive longevity. She wants the lessons and exer­cises featured in the clinic to become habitual in the students’ athletic careers. 

“We want to get them used to a good warm up.” Nichols stated. “Especially with basketball, they are doing a lot of powerful, fast moves. Particularly, it is the landing that I am most concerned about. Landing in basketball comes with a jarring motion to the knee and that’s where most inju­ries happen because they are not prepared for that.”  The clinic will continue for the next three weeks, Monday through Wednesday from 5 to 5:30 p.m. in the auxiliary gym at the high school. The clinic is open to all high school athletic teams at Sedona Red Rock High School.