HCOM and Dr. Daniel Black Team Up For a Common Goal

ATHENS, Ohio – A high-impact sport like hockey is sure to take a toll on a young athlete growing up, especially when they have been playing it their entire life. But what if there was a way that Ohio Hockey was combatting that?

There is a way to do that. Dr. Daniel Black, the team doctor for the Bobcats, has been there for 10 years, and his role is a lot more important than one would already think.

Black got his start here when Chad Starkey, the head of the department of athletic trainers, gave him the opportunity to work with a team. Black had originally wanted to work with the medical school.

Every Sunday, Black welcomes in student-athletes from the hockey team to a free clinic that he hosts. But those players are not the sole guests, he hosts various medical students as well to learn from his procedures and treat injured players.

This clinic was modeled after what he learned from at an NHL conference for team athletic trainers and physicians. The is from what the Buffalo Sabres did with their clinics.

Black’s goal is to not only fix and prevent injuries but to enhance the overall performance of these players. While it is not a mandatory clinic, he highly recommends it due to the benefits.

A lot of the benefits of these are to relieve muscle tension and accelerate recovery. Different alignments that the medical students perform are used to help with overall recovery and relaxation.

Those are done through many procedures that stretch across the board. His weekly procedures consist of acupuncture therapy, cupping therapy, manipulation therapy, and manual medicine.

He believes all of those are just as important to enhancement much like any other form of diet, exercise or supplements.

The way to get the most out of the clinic is that players should keep on coming back on a consistent basis, not just when things hurt.

By escaping the as-needed mentality, players who come every week are not only becoming less injury-prone, but their overall performance is enhanced.

“Don’t come in when you’re hurt only,” Black said. “We can enhance your performance when you’re loose, functioning and healthier than you would be when you come in hurt.”

Benefits and opportunities like these are very rare at a club-sports level. There are no other sports on campus that receive a free clinic like this.

Chayse Casto, the hockey team’s head trainer, joins Black and the medical students as well. Casto is one of the other driving forces behind this clinic as he advocates for it every week by sending a message in the team’s group chat.

“It’s been great for the guys, they always get to come in and get tuned up,” Casto said. “It doesn’t necessarily even have to be for an injury, it’s kind of just to help them perform better.”

Black and Casto have noticed that players, especially older ones on the team, are starting to understand the importance of the clinic and the long-term help it has. Players have started to come in routinely over the last five years due to the success of the treatments.

Another influence that the team can benefit from are the medical students on campus. Kaitlin VanHooser has been with the team at the clinics for three seasons. While learning in a classroom can be beneficial, real-life examples are immensely better.

“These guys are the first people that I have worked on that actually had things wrong with them,” VanHooser said. Black’s method of cross-training teaching and helping is one of the biggest things that sets this apart from other services.

“These guys have issues everywhere,” VanHooser said. “It is a really good learning experience for me, but I kept getting frustrated because I would treat one thing and come back the next week and treat the same thing.”

Dr. Black and VanHooser attend every home game so she could learn then affects on the players from the game, and the effects of their treatments on the players' performances. They sit in the Blue Line Boosters section every game.

“I sit in the third row because it gives me a shot of about 90% of what is on the ice,” Black said. “When I see a hit, I can better understand how it will affect a player.”

Between periods, Black will lecture and discuss the things that he sees on the ice to pass down knowledge to VanHooser and any other medical student in attendance. The lecture is made up of how to give sports medicine and how to take care of people.

“It’s an incredible teaching opportunity for the students,” Black said.

Typically, Black has four to six students with him as he teaches while helping the team. But at the game, he normally has two students with him. Black says that throughout the season, it gives roughly 50-100 students an opportunity to see what sports medicine is like.

1o years and counting, Black firmly believes that his system is a key factor in the decreasing amount of injuries and the enhanced performances.

If there is one last reason Black devotes his Sunday afternoons, it can be best said as this, “More time on the ice is better for the players.”