Bull Riding Wrecks and the Justin Sportsmedicine Team
Bull riders, like other rodeo cowboys and cowgirls, know that they are competing in
a sport where injuries are inevitable. In rodeo, it's an accepted fact that
it's not a matter of if a cowboy or cowgirl gets hurt, but of when and
how bad.
While injuries are a serious issue for any professional athlete, in rodeo
they can be particularly painful for a contestant financially. In rodeo, health
care, health insurance, and a contract that keeps a paycheck coming isn't
provided to an athlete the way it is in many other professional sports. Health
expenses for injuries incurred by a professional rodeo athlete are paid for out
of their own pocket, and/or out of health insurance they purchase for
themselves. In addition, a rodeo athlete's paychecks stop coming until they have
recovered enough from their injuries to pay another entry fee and attempt to
place "in the money" at the next rodeo.
In the early 1980s sports physician J. Pat Evans, physical therapist Don
Andrews, and Justin Brands, the parent company of Justin Boots, Inc., joined
forces to provide medical care for rodeo athletes that was unprecedented until
that time. Together, the two determined men and the boot company that wanted to
give something back to its cowboy and cowgirl customers formed what is now known as the Justin Sportsmedicine
Team.
The Justin Sportsmedicine Team, also known as the Justin Heelers, is not intended to provide major
health coverage or life-threatening emergency services. Their goal is to provide rodeo contestants, free of charge, with the treatment and knowledge they need to manage their
sports-related injuries and to continue to compete when
possible. The team travels to provide treatment of injuries on-site at
rodeos throughout the country. They can either set up in a room inside of a
sports facility, or work out of one of their Justin Mobile Sportsmedicine
Centers, 40-foot long aluminum gooseneck trailers that are fully equipped and
self-contained medical centers. The team is staffed by physicians, orthopedists,
physical therapists, trauma specialists, and other skilled professionals in order to provide
comprehensive care to injured rodeo athletes.
While the Justin Sportsmedicine Team cannot
be present at every rodeo in the country, they work hard to attend as many
rodeos as they can. They have provided excellent
injury treatment and management, free of charge, to tens-of-thousands of rodeo
athletes since the early 1980s.
From 1981 through 2007 the Justin Sportsmedicine Team has:
- Covered more than 1,475,000 miles with their mobile medical centers
- Treated over 112,000 athletes
- Has provided over $23,000,000 in free medical services
- Has attended over 11,200 rodeo performances
Justin Sportsmedicine Team statistics show bull riding wrecks and injuries account for most
contestant injuries. Bull fighters and clowns top the list of injuries to
non-contestants.
The next time you attend a professional rodeo or a Professional Bull Riders (PBR)
event and the Justin Sportsmedicine Team happens to be
there, take your hat off to the men and women that take such good care of our
rodeo athletes. For more information on the Justin Sportsmedicine team, we suggest you
visit the Mobile Sports Medicine Systems, Inc. website.
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