I recent seen a vacancy on the UK Sport website for Aldershot FC. Im not sure if im allowed to do this as the following are private emails, but what the hell, the email seemed pretty snobby.
They asked for ONLY a CSP physio.

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I sent them

Hi,


I was wondering, you're advertisement on UK sports for the Youth Team Physiotherapist (http://www.uksport.gov.uk/jobs/Aldershot-Town-FC-Ltd-Youth-team-Physiotherapist-050711), It asked specifically for a CSP physiotherapist, however F.A. regulations clearly state that a Society Sports Therapist may also work in professional football. Making me a perfectly acceptable candidate, therefore I feel it is unfair to suggest that Sports Therapists may not apply.
I feel i would be more than capable of fulfilling the duties of this role, and I am slightly disappointed that Sports Therapists, as it seems, may not apply.
I would like the opportunity to apply for this great position, and if for what ever reason you disallow me, would you be kind enough to justify why you are suggesting that Sports Therapist are not capable of this role.


Many Thanks ,

Christopher Carter BSc (Hons), MSST.

Head Sports Therapist, Sports Injury Hartlepool.


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They replied.

The reason is that we as a club would want the applicant to work alongside the 1st team physio ( who definitely has to be chartered ) and maybe cover at time when players are in different locations . It is also the club looking to employ a Chartered Physio irrespective of what the rules might show as a minimum .



Bob Green

Secretary

Aldershot Town Football Club

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Sorry? but as a MINIMUM???? Cleary suggesting we are not as capable as physios at dealing with sports injuries?
Im not saying any given ST is better than any given Physio.
But we are clearly at LEAST just as capable.

Id also like to say that F.A. regulation for championship and lower currently say that an ST can be head of all therapists including having Physio's below them.

THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO NOT CONSIDER SPORTS THERAPISTS!

I invite all who see this to complain!

I'm am not aware of the ins and outs of this highly debatable topic - however, if you were interested in the role then maybe you should have tried to be a bit more positive in your initial email, selling your abities as a ST, rather than challenging their requirements for a physio.

Just my thoughts...

I probably should have sold my self a lot more, you're right. But that sort of disregard and ignorance of our skills should not remain unchallenged.

Hi Christopher,

This is my personal experience and view, others will be different I'm sure.

I can understand your frustration mate, but I think with being in the industry now (as a ST) for 7+ years I have (rightly or wrongly) accepted that this prujudice exists and if the job states Chartered Physio and has Chartered Physio's in place already that you will work with, your chances are nil. Purely because you are a ST and not liked by the physio community and other staff at clubs don't know what the difference is/or are used to the term Physio.

You could be the best ST in the world and you will be competing for jobs with Physio's that may have never even seen a sports injury. But because Physio is a known title that has been around for a long time, they will be 1st choice.

I work with Premier League Ref's, World Champion Martial Artists, Academy players (outside of the club), Semi-pro players and over the years of applying for posts within clubs I have never even had a reply from any club, never mind an interview!
The job I did get with B'ham City FC was purely being in the right place at the right time and knowing the right person.

I don't believe this will ever change and ST'ists will have to continue to just provide the best possible service they can to compete with titles that have been around a long time.

PS. Don't mean to sound negative, 'cus I have a had a very successful career so far as an ST, just not in pro-football.

Ive heard similar stories, and have met a few dissillusioned ST's because of this. A friend is working for Darlington FC at the minute, he did some volunteering there and a post came up, so they took him on.
Luckily not every club is ignorant.
Its things like this that make me wonder if i should do a Physio MSc. But i have a strange feeling of loyaly to Sports Therapy!
The main issue may lie in public awareness, You may have expereinced this conversation too.
'So what do you do for a living?'
'sports Therapists'
'Whats that, massage and stuff?'

And eventually you just get sick to the point were you say 'Sports Physio'

Would be a great idea if the Society or Organisation, or even a joint effort was made for a few National adverts!

recently the FA big wig stated that to work in football ideally you need a sports therapy qualification, and there is work going on behind the scenes to address this problem of discrimination, unfortunately the actions of certain Professional associations over the past 10 years has done little to progress the industry.
Currently SST and BASRAT are advocating 1 year unpaid internships in football, which is devaluing the industry tremendously.

Ive seen several of those internships about, its really unfair, taking advantage of an over saturated market, so many people need something extra on thier CV, and sometimes volunteering like that is the only option.

I have to agree with Marv, in most cases its not 'what you know its who you know', even if you dont have the 'right' qualification.

I notice from your website that you are MSST and MSTO, my advice would be to write to your PAs and ask them what they are going to do, on your behalf, about this situation.

This has already been raised at council level, and I know the regulator, CNHC has had an informal chat with someone from the FA, but I dont know the outcome of that as yet.

I asked graham smith personally, he said they are allowed to do that. I have the email if you wish to see it.
There's nothing stopping them.
FA rules say the CAN hire us, but dont HAVE to.

I think its up to an individual employer what criteria they apply to a vacancy.

We have just had two great vacancies come through to us, one is paid over £300 per day and the other is in football, but, they want an Active Health Group graduate. They arent interested if they are members of SST, STO, SMA, etc etc, but its the training the applicant has done that they are interested in.

The problem with having PA membership as a requirement is that the members can have different levels of training, for example, SST accept BSc grads, and 10 day diplomates, SMA accept Level 3 Sports Massage, which we know can be achieved in as little as 4 days. I believe this is the reason EIS dropped the PA membership requirement.

I dont think having a qualification as a requirement is discriminatory, I do think having PA membership as a requirement is.

That said, in this particular case, what Professor Smith should be asking is, why does this club think a Physiotherapist is better suited for a job in football than an ST.

As Marv mentioned before, some physios have no experience in sports injuries, yet they are automatically eligible for the job. If they are suitably trained in sports injuries, then fine, but lets face it, someone fresh out of uni with a physio degree is certainly not the best person for a job in sports therapy.

As Richard said, I think its mainly down to the head of the clubs medical department and who they feel they would like to employ. From my experience the more modern forward thinking clubs who embrace sports science are now coming round to employing sports therapists in some capacity, as many of the clubs we have faced employ both Physios and Sports Therapists. I am lucky to work with two clubs one at Football league 1 level, and the other within the Welsh Premier League. Unfortunately the Welsh FA still seem to be stuck in their ways and when coming to passing UEFA and Welsh Premier licencing criterea insist only 'Chartered Physios' can be the name on the clubs official documentation, sports therapists are not recognised. Also when it comes to working at any international level within the Wales capacity. Again as Richard states and from good experience our club has a Local Chartered sign the document who has never set foot out of an NHS ward or been involved in sport in any form, yet the Welsh FA would be happy for her to Handle their players, even run on the field of play to deal with an acute soft tissue injury.

The Welsh FA's inabilty to recognise Sports Therapists is a subject I would like the society to look into if possible .