• Sports

As we head into holiday mode, New Zealand is drifting into the days of more extended sunshine hours and warmer weather. Many Kiwis will spend the next 3 months enjoying what this warmth will bring to our country’s diverse outdoors—be that time at the beach or taking a hike in the vast expanse of the countryside we have on our doorstep, as seen on the front cover photo of this BJSM edition . It is with great pleasure that Sports and Exercise Physiotherapy New Zealand (SEPNZ) brings you this issue of BJSM.

In this edition, we take a deep dive around the knee—with several articles themed around anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries and intervention. We look at the thought-provoking research ‘Evidence of ACL healing on MRI following ACL rupture treated with rehabilitation alone might be associated with better patient-reported outcomes: a secondary analysis from the KANON trial.’ (see page 91 ) This work is ground-breaking and may ultimately shape best practice for ACL injuries into the future, and will likely be the subject of fierce debate and stimulate additional investigation to come.

It is not a new concept to think of the mind–body connection when experiencing an injury and its effect on rehabilitation. It is now standard practice to evaluate athletes’ psychological readiness to return to play with ACL injuries, wrapping athletes with support and tools to assist return to play. From injury, through to intervention and rehabilitation, this takes a team of clinicians to work together to achieve the ultimate goal. The article ‘Sports Physiotherapists’ Contribution to the Sports and Exercise Medicine Team: Moving Forward, Together’ explores just one of these components. (see page 78) We know that athletes can be physically ready, completing all their battery of physical tests at ease but still cannot return to sport. Mindfulness involves the active consciousness bringing attention to the present moment without evaluation. Mindfulness was not a term I heard much when growing up, but it is more commonly used in modern society. Primary school-aged children are learning about this, showing an explosion in mindfulness practice for multiple aspects of their lives. It seems fitting to include a systematic review and meta-analysis on ‘The effect of mindfulness-based programmes on elite athlete mental health’. (see page 99 )

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Like many collegial partners, SEPNZ has worked tirelessly over the last 2 years to continue bringing education to our members in a challenging but progressive environment. I’m sure we would not have made the accelerated advancement in how education is and will be delivered without the pandemic. However, many of us prefer to work and learn face to face. Just a couple of weekends ago, I had the opportunity to sit down with the SEPNZ Executive members and plan the 2023 education calendar. There was genuine excitement that these courses would be able to take place and we could go out to our membership with a clear plan for the next 12 months of online and practical face-to-face content. We have found that there has been some hesitancy in course registration as people are still concerned that face-to-face education will be cancelled, but we feel this year was a real turning point. We have had to take the mentality of ‘build it, and they will come’, so for the first time in 2 years, we will be posting the education offerings for the entire year for 2024 (9 SEPNZ Courses). Kudos to all the volunteers worldwide that set up and deliver content to clinicians, and thanks to BJSM for keeping the high-quality information following through this journal and social media feeds. Although we have sometimes felt further, maybe we can be more connected than ever.

If you are in rain, hail, snow or sun and heat this holiday season, sit back and enjoy this BJSM issue, celebrate mindfulness, and be in the moment of this edition. Maybe contemplate your next trip to New Zealand, keep an eye on the SEPNZ website https://sportsphysiotherapy.org.nz and social media for the SEPNZ 2024 symposium, and tie in the journey with some learning. Let’s reconnect face-to-face!