MEDICAL TEAM
Lisa Wilson
Lisa is the head of our player medical care oversight, and as a practicing Physiotherapist with over 35 years of experience in sports injuries, she is able to quickly and effectively provide diagnoses and treatment programs for our players.
As a Dalhousie alumni herself, and having participated in a variety of sports including continuing to be an avid golfer and marathonist with over 80+ completed, Lisa is deeply in touch with the mental and physical rehabilitation from sports-related injuries, and the techniques to prevent further damage or incidents in the future.
Through Lisa, the players have access to the Wag Physio clinic, which can often see them for an appointment within 3 days of an injury occurring. As well as being on the field herself regularly during games and practices in order to check on patients and answer questions, Lisa also manages a team of volunteer student trainers who are always present to treat and address injuries as they happen on the field.
Dr. Ivan Wong
Dr. Wong is an associate professor at Dalhousie University and an Orthopedic surgeon at the QEII hospital, specializing in hip, knee and shoulder arthroscopy. He continues to devote his career to his patients, striving to reduce incision sizes, recovery times, and advancing the education available for his specialty through his teaching work.
Dr. Wong and Dr. Coady also work closely with teams of fellows (doctors in the final years of in-clinic training) who are often on the field at games and practices, and have managed to get our players consultations within a week of diagnosis, well ahead of the industry standard.
Through our connections with Dr. Atkinson, Dr. Wong, Dr. Coady, and Lisa Wilson, the club maintains professional relationships with a number of other specialists for second opinions and player treatment including plastic surgeons, ankle orthopedic surgeons and others which allow us to maintain a high standard of medical rehabilitation for our athletes.
Dr. Catherine Coady
Dr. Coady is an assistant professor of Orthopedic surgery at Dalhousie University, and an Alumni of the Dalhousie School of Medicine. Her main areas of interest include knee and shoulder problems as well as arthroscopic surgery, with a focus on sports-related injuries.
Sarah Pennington
Sarah began her journey with injury care as a student trainer in 2013. She worked with UBC men's rugby for two years while completing her Bachelor of Human Kinetics. She then moved to New Zealand in 2015 where she volunteered for two years as a sideline medic for Wellington's Marist St. Pats Rugby Club. Sarah came to Halifax in 2017 and completed her Master's of Physiotherapy at Dalhousie in 2021. Since moving to the Maritimes, she has worked with UKC men's and women's rugby, Lacrosse Nova Scotia's Jr. Privateers, Soccer Nova Scotia, Dalhousie women's basketball, and provided coverage for the 2023 and 2024 Ice Jam hockey tournaments. This season she is working with Dalhousie women's soccer and joins the football team part-time while pursuing her Sports Physiotherapy credentials.
Dr. Casey Jones
Dr. Jones maintains the role of Director of Player Safety for the Dalhousie Football Club, and is heavily involved in our Riddell Smart Helmets program. Our club was proudly the first Canadian University football team to roll out these special Riddell helmets for use by all players, which allow us to track head impacts received by players, directly translating to being able to provide better coaching, better roster management, and improved injury identification for our team.
Dr. Jones was formerly a player on our team, as well as a club president, and later a coach. He is also leading an ongoing concussion research project at Dalhousie, which you can read about using the button below:
Dr. Tina Atkinson
Dr. Atkinson is known as a top Sports Medicine Physician in Canada and has extensive experience in supporting teams in various games with 15 years of experience. She also made appearances at the 2022 Beijing and 2024 Paris Olympics, helping the Women’s Hockey team win gold in the former! She was also a recipient of the Ken Mantin award from Hockey Nova Scotia in 2021. Dr. Atkinson is also involved with ongoing concussion research at Dalhousie University along with Dr. Casey Jones. We are fortunate to have her lending her expertise and industry connections to our team for sports injuries which go beyond the rehabilitation capabilities of physiotherapy alone.
Player Trainers
The Dalhousie Football Club is one of the few sports teams at Dalhousie which maintains our own Player Trainer program, overseen by Lisa Wilson. As a high-contact sport, football provides a number of unique injuries which helps students to gain hands-on experience in identifying, diagnosing, and treating sports-injuries on the field to the clinic, as well as assisting the athletes with their rehabilitation.
Student Trainers are present at all practices and games, ready to assist the players as needed. Regular experiences that trainers get to participate in include taping, icing, and identifying injuries as players come off the field. They will also follow through with treatment, working with Lisa in her clinic. If you or someone you know are interested in joining our trainer program, you can apply for the next season using the button below:
Brenna Worrall