Micaela Zettel

Background

About Micaela Zettel

I am passionate about advancing females in sport: as athletes, advocates, and leaders. By empowering them with the best information, informed rehabilitation and intelligent training options, female athletes can be equipped with tools that will support them throughout their lives. To build stronger and more resilient athletes we need accurate and accessible information that begins with females in their youth, their parents and their coaches. Information that speaks to the unique needs of the female athlete is imperative. Their needs are generally not well understood and knowledge is lacking. In my practice I see many female athletes that have had to end their athletic careers early because of injuries that started in their youth, never reaching their full potential. Or, they have a poorer quality of life as a result of their injuries and how they were, or were not, managed. If we are going to see a world where female sports are equally represented then we need the BEST information, delivered at the right time, and skilled practitioners need to be supporting them. This is how I believe we can help these athletes to reach their potential. We need to continue to encourage and support youth females to participate in sport, as the drop out rate is alarming and the benefits of sport participation are clear. Youth females undergo physical and hormonal changes that affect their movement and athletic development. We can support them through these changes so they can continue to play sports and grow as athletes and people. FEMALE SPORTS MEDICINE: I provide evidence informed physiotherapy for rehabilitation of sports related injuries for female athletes. I also offer SPORTS PERFORMANCE CARE helping athletes stay at peak performance. I use a neurofunctional approach, electro-acupuncture, manual therapy and exercise. I provide EDUCATION for parents, athletes, coaches and health care providers on health & sport performance topics unique to female athletes so that we can support them better throughout their sporting lives. I believe in creating strong, resilient and empowered female athletes.*An athlete is someone who uses their body for physical activity and/or sport.*I use ‘female’ to describe the physiology that is unique to an individual who has been assigned female at birth. However you choose to identify, I support you. It is the physiology that must be understood to provide informed care. We are each unique, and our rehabilitation, health and sport performance care must reflect this. This is why I do not say “women’s health/women’s sports”.