By SEPNZ President Blair JarrattEDITORIAL

Welcome, to another jam-packed SEPNZ bulletin delivered straight to your inbox.

When the Board of Physiotherapy first released the areas of specialisation, sports physiotherapy was left off the list. Some argued that sports physiotherapy should sit under the musculoskeletal specialisation area and there would be no need for it to sit in its stand-alone category. At that time the leaders of this SIG stood up for our Sports Physiotherapists' and argued that Sports Physiotherapy should be recognised as its own area of specialisation. Over the years, we have watched as other categories have gained specialist physiotherapists.

Until two months ago the number was eight specialist physiotherapists in their fields. In August 2019 New Zealand gained our 9th specialist and the first ever sports specialist physiotherapist - Jacinta Horan. The SEPNZ executive is hugely proud of this and therefore we have focused this bulletin on specialisation.

Jacinta - fresh back from her High-Performance Sport New Zealand role to the world university games in Italy, has given us her insights into the process and what this means for her, how she sees it changing her practice and the opportunities this may open up for her. Her application process started two years ago and anyone that is thinking of starting the process - her feature piece is a mustread. Also, now would be a great time to remind our members that SEPNZ is committed to helping the first 5 reach Sports Specialist Physiotherapists status with a grant for the final stages of specialisation. If you are in the process of your submission now, please contact our secretary, so we are aware you are trying to achieve specialist status and possibly to provide you with some guidance.

As per all our bulletins, we focus on an executive member so our members can get an idea of who we are, and it is Emma Clabburn's turn. Emma is the editor of this bulletin and puts out a great resource bi-monthly to our membership. Also, thank you to SEPNZ executive member Emma Lattey with another excellent app review on 1 Rep max testing.

Our executive would also like to take this opportunity to thank long-standing Executive member Bharat Sukha, who is stepping down from our team. Bharat has been on this executive for 13 years (2 instalments) and has maintained the SEPNZ sponsorship relationships, contributing to the growth of this SIG. He has also been well versed in delivering great banter for the executive and helped to keep the seriousness dosed with a decent dollop of humour. Thank you, Bharat, for all the hard work, you will be hugely missed on our team - we look forward to your 3rd instalment!

We also have an article brought to you by ASICS NZ from Chris Bishop, who is an independent consultant for ASICS Australia. This is an excellent unbiased read in the progression of footwear and what Chris calls his "synergy of performance". A couple of months ago there was a murmur in the media about injuries for children in sports with ACC quoting some data which sounded like it was breaking news. The concept of specialising too early in our life is not new, and as physiotherapists, we are at the forefront of these questions from our patients and their parents. Dr Simon Walters - head of coaching, health and physical education from AUT contributes to our bulletin with some easy-toremember messages we can give our patients and parents. The public must continue to see exercise and activity as a positive part of our lives, so to have appropriate and well-researched messages to give our clients should be part of all physiotherapists education.

Speaking of activity and exercise, do you love your mountain biking? If not, then maybe you should get to know it better as one of the fastest-growing sports in NZ. With the speed and terrain, this sport is always going to have its fair shares of "offs" and Rose Lampden-Smith reviews an article on the injuries in mountain biking. This is an excellent overview of the most common injuries and with one of the worlds best mountain bike terrains on our doorstep (Rotorua's world-famous redwoods, plus some of those epic rides of Aotearoa such as the west coast old ghost road, Queen charlotte) then expect these mechanisms of injury to grow.

To round off our bulletin - look at the back for some job opportunities in sport and clinic and the SEPNZ upcoming courses. We have one in the South Island and one in the North Island this year and some job opportunities in sport and in clinic. While you make your way to one of our SEPNZ courses to strengthening your CPD folder, throw your bike on the back of the car and have a look at what NZ has to offer from the saddle. Or slip on your favourite running shoes looking for that "synergy of performance."

#Specialistinsportsphysiotherapy - who will be our next?

Thanks for reading.