What is The Sports Clinic of Football?
The Sports Clinic of Football (TSCF) Gym and Medical Clinic caters to elite and aspiring footballers including those from Tim Schleiger’s stable of international professional players through to local and junior players wanting to perform to the best of their ability and successfully negotiate their football journey injury free.
Our Vision
TSCF is the brainchild of Tim Schleiger, who has been involved in Australian and international football both as a professional player and a strength & conditioning high performance coach.
Tim’s vision is to develop strength and conditioning coaches and physiotherapists from NPL level through to international football and to raise the bar of the quality of their performance.
In drawing on his unique experiences in football, Tim aims to share his expertise with the next generation, which in turn creates better care for our players.
Tim feels strongly that if we can improve the quality of the medical systems involved in football, we can also do our best to create better quality players coming through the Australian football system.
What we do differently
Often in football, when a junior player is injured, they attend a physiotherapy clinic where as therapists they may not fully understand the nuances and details of the round ball game. Unfortunately, too often in this country, young footballers are told to rest. However, at the elite level, it is extremely rare for footballers to require complete rest. Furthermore, research tells us that maintaining high loads, where possible, is actually protective against injury.
There is always a new area to safely work on, from technical skills such as the first touch through to strength and conditioning, stabilisation or simply going back to basics to strengthen the weakest link. Rest can be the enemy to players during rehabilitation, so it’s crucial that we ensure there are always other areas to explore. Tendons and muscles require a load during the rehabilitation process, and it’s important that parents and players understand that rest is the enemy, not their friend.
Lessons from the past
During the ‘golden generation,’ Australia produced numerous players who competed in Europe’s top leagues for over a decade. Among them were Harry Kewell, Vince Grella, Tim Cahill, Marco Bresciano, and Mark Viduka. Many of these players came through the AIS and were not only great footballers, but also top athletes.
However, somewhere along the line, Australian footballers have lost their technical edge. Tim believes that Australian football has lost its identity and become too ‘smart’ for its own good. He has seen countless young players engaged in elite academies suffer from stress fractures simply because they are not strong enough to play our game.
Therefore, there must be a focus on developing footballers’ strength and fitness. They must become both athletes and footballers and as Tim always says you need to be “Strong like a Bull”.