Medical Coverage of Basketball Events: From Local Competitions to European, World Championships and Olympic Games

Abstract

In order to get an accurate dimension of the event, we need to define the type of competition. The competition and teams’ category indicate us the level of games and practices’, with higher level comes higher intensity and risk when playing. In the same way, a higher level on the sportive event comes with a higher expectation of an audience, which can later cause security issues depending on the rivalry between different teams, a bigger media presence, and a more active participation from the marketing departments along interventions on court during the game. The medical assistance for just one game is not the same as the medical assistance for a whole competition or tournament that lasts a few days. We have to establish how many teams will play in it, how many games and training sessions will take place, and what will be the predicted audience as well as the media’s assistance. We do not exclude to indicate if there are any expected marketing or protocol actions. We have to define the participant teams: in a local competition they represent a homogeneous group with a similar health profile. On the other hand, we have to be sensible to particular differences at the health and nutrition level in international competitions. We have to register who makes up the medical staff of every single team, and who is our interlocutor in case a medical issue occurs. Some teams travel with a physiotherapist only, so they need more help than teams that come with their own doctor. We have to revise the competition calendar, particularly the times off in between games; those might put pressure on teams in order to obtain a diagnosis in case of an injury or their decision-making process. In this chapter, we tried to overview medical coverage of basketball event with various forms.