Devon Ackroyd, DC, MS, DACBSP®, Cert. MDT, assistant professor and faculty clinician for Montgomery Health Center, recently served on the medical staff for the United States women’s national ice hockey team.
Dr. Ackroyd traveled to Herning, Denmark, where he spent about three weeks treating some of the most elite female athletes in the sport of hockey during the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women’s Hockey World Championships.
“It was truly an incredible experience. Being surround by the top talent level in the world in women’s hockey was awesome,” Dr. Ackroyd said. “These women are unbelievably determined and competitive.”
Before this year, there had not been a chiropractor on the team’s medical staff.
“I treat a few of the Team USA athletes who live in St. Louis on a regular basis, which led to working a local event treating other athletes on the United States women’s hockey team,” said Dr. Ackroyd. “The athletes really liked having a chiropractor available for adjustments during that event, so they asked me to travel with them to Denmark for this event.”
As part of the team’s medical staff, Dr. Ackroyd adjusted athletes and did soft tissue work and taping, in addition to some other tasks that aren’t typically in a chiropractor’s wheelhouse.
“When you are part of the medical staff for a team of athletes, you have to be a team player. Sometimes this means filling water bottles or sweeping the floors,” Dr. Ackroyd said. “It’s a lot of early mornings and late nights, doing whatever needs to be done to serve the athletes, because that’s our primary goal.”