Injuries have taken many players off of courts and fields in recent years, with many athletes taking a break because of injuries. To help female athletes with injury prevention, the Powerhouse Gym and girls sports teams are partnering in a new screening and training program.
The focus on girls sports for the program is due to how female athletes are more likely to get injured, because of factors like estrogen, lower muscle mass and hormone differences. The most common injuries being ACL tears, plantar fasciitis, ankle sprains, and stress fractures.
Another reason for the focus being girls sports is becuase according to Jill Lipsit, historically, girl’s sports have also been given fewer resources, such as strength training and nutrition coaching, compared to boy’s sports. This program is a step forward in helping girls sports with all these issues.
Junior Madelyn Moser participates year-round in volleyball, basketball and track. Having been injured last year, Moser thinks many things can be improved regarding girls sports at SPA, including more time and access to the weight room.

She hopes that the Powerhouse partnership will help women athletes get more comfortable with weightlifting and building up strength in general. “Weight training will help a lot with injuries,” Moser said.
Jill Lipset is a SPA alum who now co-owns The Powerhouse with fellow alum and boys varsity soccer coach, Max Lipset. “Not all injuries can be prevented, but there are many things that can be done to decrease the odds, lessen the severity, and improve the path of recovery,” Lipset said. “I want each student-athlete to develop knowledge around their own movement patterns, feel empowered to stay healthy, and find a connection with fitness that they can take into the rest of their lives.”
Teams undergo the Functional Movement Screen at the beginning of the season to see the chance of injury with every individual athlete. This test helps to identify imbalances in movement patterns and prescribe corrective measures to help the athlete stay healthy. It includes exercises to help strengthen stability, flexibility, agility, stamina, power and endurance.
These exercises will build on top of an athlete’s sport-specific skills. Training sessions are conducted one to two times a week.
Sophomore Sona Jain is playing soccer this fall while still recovering from tearing her ACL last year. The exercises the Powerhouse demonstrates to prevent injuries are essential for Jain’s recovery.
The Powerhouse is conducting their next round of testing on Oct. 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.