Timberly Ambler
Inspirations in my life as a Sport Physiotherapist
I was introduced to the world of sport physiotherapy as a 16 year-old high school student. My grade 11 Biology Teacher was also the senior boys rugby coach at the school. He knew I had first aid experience from my job as a gymnastics coach so he asked if I’d like to help out on the sidelines. I had a number of roles on the team - water girl, provider of the magic spray bottle which seemed to fix all acute pains, blood management, and if all else failed, caller of the ambulance. It was during that time when I also met my first physiotherapy mentor, Gene Della Siega. Gene invited me to shadow him at his clinic in White Rock to learn more about the profession. A lot of his patients were high school athletes and I loved watching how he interacted with them – educating them about their injuries, helping them reach their goals of getting back on field, and all the while being just so cool and calm and obviously loving his job. Within minutes of shadowing him, I was in love – with Physiotherapy! I quickly decided I’d follow his path of an SFU Kinesiology degree and then a UBC Physiotherapy degree. I never once changed my focus and am forever thankful for meeting him at such a young age.
As a kinesiologist and in my first year as a physiotherapy student I made up my mind that I would focus on sport physiotherapy. I attended as many sport medicine conferences and seminars as I could and heard some amazing speakers who were obviously so passionate about their professions. I joined the Sport Physiotherapy Canada BC executive as a student rep under the watchful and encouraging eyes of Tyler Dumont and began researching the SPC education system to figure out how I could become a sport physiotherapist as soon as I graduated. I met some amazing physiotherapists throughout these years. I feel honored to have so many incredible mentors and role models in my life – Ron Mattison, Trish Hopkins, Isabel Grondin,
Wendy Epp, Clyde Smith, Carl Petersen, Erica Mahon, Chris Napier, Andrea Reid, Kevin Stoll, Harry Toor and many more.
And now, here I am, a sport physiotherapist. I’ve travelled the world with the
Canadian national Rugby & Field Hockey teams. I worked at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and the 2011 FISU World University games in China. And now, as I get ready to work towards my next goal of becoming an SPC examiner, I can’t help but think back to my early years on the rugby field and wonder if that magic spray bottle had some special powers in it which helped me get here!
Timberly George is a Sport Physiotherapist and Partner at City Sports & Physiotherapy Clinic in downtown Vancouver.