The Minnesota Twins Athletic Training staff hosted the 2016 PBATS Florida Spring Training Seminar on Saturday, March 5th at the CenturyLink Sports Complex Player Development Academy and was organized and moderated by Larry Bennese and Lanning Tucker.
With 56 total attendees including the presenters, one PBATS Alumni, and 8 organizations represented, the Seminar was well received with a variety of topics aimed at addressing current trends in diagnosing, treating, and improving the overall health of players.
Presenting again this year, Dr. Jay Smith (Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN) discussed “Diagnostic Ultrasound of the Shoulder in Throwers” followed by a live demo later in the course of the seminar. Dr. L. Pearce McCarty of Sports and Orthopaedic Specialists in Edina, MN addressed “Current Trends in the Treatment of SLAP Lesions” and Dr. Mary Beth Saunders, Infectious Disease Specialist from Lee Memorial Hospital did an excellent talk titled “Soft Tissue, Skin, and Infectious Disease Update.”
After a Q & A with the first three speakers and break, Katherine Moran, RD, LDN discussed “Nutrition for Baseball”, followed by the live diagnostic ultrasound demonstration, and the final speaker of the evening was Dr. Michael Tolentino from the Center for Retina and Macular Disease in Lakeland, FL who presented “What is Natural Blue Light and its Effect on Vision.”
Prior to the Seminar, dinner was provided by SodexoMagic and Tom Rokovitz of Henry Schein addressed the group and was able to stay for the entire evening to meet with Athletic Trainers individually.
All attendees also received literature and product samples from Blue-Emu, Eye Promise, Henry Schein, The J.R. Watkins Company, Louisville Slugger, Medco Supply, Oh Yeah Bars/ISS Research, Phiten, and Sundog Eyewear in a “goodie bag” made possible by Larry Bennese and the Minnesota Twins Minor League Athletic Training staff.
*Information and images provided by Lanning Tucker, Assistant ATC – Minnesota Twins.