With the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Royal Belgian Football Association has engaged in a partnership with SpartaNova to screen and monitor the Red Devils in the preparation of their World Cup campaign. The SpartaNova screenings have been playing a key role in the Move to Cure injury prevention approach for many years.

Screening Belgian Red Devils

Today (March 3rd 2014) all players underwent the SpartaNova prevention screening procedure, as part of the overall prevention and coaching program of the team staff. The testing was performed by the medical staff of the Red Devils, the Move to cure team and SpartaNova. It covered important factors that are determining for injuries most prevailing in football, including the testing of the core stability, leg stability, functional strength and landing biomechanics, all designed for a field testing setting with video analysis.

The evaluation gives insight on the specific focus points of each player and allows the staff to decide on the most effective training approach for each team player on his way to Brazil. By individual additional training efforts, each player holds the tools to maximize his performance and to reduce his injury risk to a minimum, all built on the best available evidence.

Lieven Maesschalck: “As a physiotherapist of our national team, I have an advisory role towards the trainer and I want to base it on scientific knowledge. With SpartaNova I have a tool and a scale to discuss certain findings with the physical trainer and to bring a profound and evidence-based advice to the trainer”. 

Communication

In the next few weeks when players will be back playing in their teams, the SpartaNova online tool will serve as a basis to communicate and interact, between the players and Red Devil staff as well as with the staff of the players’ clubs spread out all over the world. In this way everyone can communicate on relevant results, progress and share feedback.

This integrated prevention strategy with screening, training, monitoring and communication has proven successful in a number of world-class football teams, Olympic committees and training centers. It will ultimately contribute to a reduced injury incidence and burden, higher match availability and an overall higher team performance.

After the World Cup, SpartaNova will develop the cooperation with the Royal Belgian Football Association and it will support the medical and coaching staff for integrating prevention in its divisions, including female teams and youth.

About SpartaNova

SpartaNova is a young university spin-off, built on over a decade of research on injury prevention, performance and athlete monitoring. By combining the latest academic insights with sports specific field expertise, SpartaNova has developed an evidence-based concept of players’ screening and translated this into an online tool. More information: www.spartanova.com