massage therapy journal

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She came out for spring training in 2000, and the head trainer liked her work. She started working parttime, and at the end of the 2003 season, Padres management decided to hire a full-time sports therapist. The choice came down to a male therapist who worked on players at home and Calabrese, who focused on road trips. She got the job.

And she has thrived in it. But she’s the only full-time female therapist in Major League Baseball. Among all the teams in the NBA and NFL, reports suggest perhaps one assistant female therapist in each league. So what’s the deal? Is there a glass ceiling over the Astroturf?

Calabrese doesn’t think so, and an array of female sports massage therapists agrees with her. It’s not easy being the only woman in a locker room, and it may not be for everyone. Massage is a field where relationships and referrals make all the difference, and professional sports massage is no exception. Breaking into the field—and into the upper echelons of a particular sport—takes time and skill. But the timing for women is better now than ever before.

The Playing Field

In part, women’s options have expanded because sports massage itself has seen huge growth in recent years. As massage has become integrated into the training process in professional sports, massage therapists have become valued collaborators regardless of gender. Calabrese recalls that in the mid-90s, when she was first starting to work on pro athletes in Cleveland, massage hadn’t really caught hold yet. It was the rare team that pushed players toward preventative massage—but now it’s part of the bigger picture of performance.

Dianna Linden has worked with professional bodybuilders, including a Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia. She’s worked with athletes—weight lifters, power lifters, martial artists and boxing coaches—for more than a decade.

“I’ve been treated as an important and valuable part of the feedback loop in active recovery paradigms,” she says. “That means getting rid of adhesions or giving a heads-up to both the athlete and coach before the athlete is over-trained, warning when there’s a danger. If I find a problem, I’ll call and say if you back off on the things that involve this muscle and give this kind of rehab, he should bounce back. The coach realizes bodywork provides feedback.”

Mimi Ney worked with professional athletes regularly and at the 1995 Olympic Trials, the 1996 Olympic Games and the 1992 World Track and Field Championships. Her client list is full of Olympic and World champions and record holders, including Michael Johnson and Gwen Torrence.

“It [acceptance of massage] seems to be growing,” says Ney. “Trainers, chiropractors, doctors—the whole health field realizes the benefits of sports massage. It’s a big part of an athletic program, of sports medicine in college training rooms, all the way to the Olympic level.”

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