THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 1, 1995 TAG: 9509290192
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 27 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DWIGHT FOXX, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
The competitors came out in Woodrena Baker and Daresia Hubbard when employees of the Virginia Center for Orthopaedics administered the National Athletic Testing Program at Great Bridge High School earlier this fall.
Baker, a 16-year-old junior at the school, and Hubbard, a 14-year-old sophomore, are cheerleaders and track athletes at Great Bridge. Hubbard also plays basketball.
The NATP is a series of tests in body composition, agility, acceleration/speed, upper body power, lower body power and flexibility. The tests allowed Baker and Hubbard to find out a lot about themselves.
``I thought it was fun, really,'' Baker said. ``I had the best upper body strength, but I didn't jump as high as I wanted to.''
Hubbard had mixed feelings about her results.
``My upper body strength wasn't as good as I would have liked,'' she said. ``I didn't want her (Baker) to beat me, but I did beat her in running.''
This is the second consecutive year that the Virginia Center for Orthopaedics, Sentara and HealthSouth have collaborated on this venture. The test is designed to enhance athletic ability, reduce sports injuries and research areas affecting the performance of organized sports participants.
Each local sponsor is licensed, trained and certified to provide testing within its local market area. The Athletic Testing program in Hampton Roads is provided as a community service by the physicians, therapists and trainers of Virginia Beach Orthopaedic Associates.
Baker and Hubbard's results, like all others, will be sent to the National Data Processing Center in Omaha. They will be compared with other participants in as many as three sports based on name, grade, sport and sport position.
For example, Baker will be compared with other 11th-grade shooting guards across the country.
The information, once processed and verified, is sent back to participants, their coaches and the local sponsor. The athletes are given performance scores and national rankings.
Baker and Hubbard can monitor their progress over the years.
In the past month, tests have been given at Great Bridge High School, Salem High School, Norfolk Christian School, Stonebridge School, Virginia Wesleyan College and Atlantic Shores Christian School.
With a staff of six, the Virginia Center for Orthopaedics can test 120 athletes in a hour.
Luann Robinson, Sports Medicine Coordinator at the Virginia Center for Orthopaedics, said virtually any athletic group can be tested as long as there are at least 30 athletes and they are in sixth grade or above.
``We're not testing athletic skills, but athletic ability,'' Robinson said. ``Our biggest focus is on educating the coaches. How can they (the coaches) use the results?''
Some coaches, like Atlantic Shores basketball coach Mark Phelps, know what to do with the results.
``We're going to use it as a comparison,'' Phelps said. ``We want to know how we match up with other teams across the country. What do we need to work on? We're going to take the test three times. We want to improve our scores from fall to winter to spring.''
Phelps' basketball team will take the test again Jan. 10 and April 3.
Rock Church Academy Athletic Director Michele Tribus is another who sees the benefits of the program.
She brought 50 kids from grades 6-12 to Atlantic Shores Sept. 20 so they could be tested.
``Number one, I use it as a coaching tool,'' Tribus said. ``It's very helpful for the young ones coming up. It lets me know what their skill level is. It tests everything - flexibility, speed, jumping ability, power. There (in the test) is a little bit of everything in every sport.''
Some coaches, like Atlantic Shores cross country coach Randy Nieter, have no idea what he's going to do with the results.
Renee Midgett, the athletic trainer at Atlantic Shores and a physical therapist at HealthSouth, said she will explain to Nieter how the results will work for his sport.
``For cross country, we really don't have a lot for endurance,'' Midgett said. ``But we can do this. It can be done with the electronic timers.''
Wayne Gatewood, a trainer at the Virginia Center for Orthopaedics, and Midgett stressed that coaches be serious when they send their kids in for testing. In some cases, trainers are not available to interpret the results for coaches, so it's crucial that the coaches understand what they mean.
``What teams and schools get out of it depend on how serious the coaches are,'' Midgett said. ``If the coaches are serious about it, the players will be, too. If the coaches are lackadaisical, the players are going to be lackadaisical.''
Added Gatewood: ``You really need to know how to interpret the results. Where are you at the beginning of the year as compared to the end of the year? This test is designed to help them (coaches) improve their athletes. They find out what they need to work on as a group and as individual athletes.''
J.D. Wiedmaier, a seventh-grade boys basketball coach at Norfolk Christian, says Robinson was very helpful in explaining the program to his school's coaches.
``She came to a coaches breakfast and explained it,'' Wiedmaier said. ``Our kids liked it.''
Obviously the coach did, too. Robinson gave Wiedmaier his own personal test. MEMO: For more information on having your athletic team tested, contact Luann
Robinson at 625-4878 or Wayne Gatewood at 481-2663.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA
Luann Robinson with Athletic Testing helps Stephen Kidd check his
flexibility at Atlantic Shores Christian School.
by CNB