Work and Play

Boroughmuir club physiotherapist Leona Kinghorn first got a taste for the job when she encountered several injuries as a 200 and 400 metre runner. She had so many pulled muscles that she got time to consider the skills of the people treating her and decided on Physiotherapy as a career.

After successfully completing a 4 year honours degree she set out on a road which led her to Boroughmuir. The 27 year old Senior Physiotherapist at St John's hospital heard that a colleague had been approached by Colin MacLean with a view to becoming club physio. When Leona heard that her colleague was not interested in the post she jumped at the chance to earn some extra money and to pursue her interest in sports physiotherapy at the same time. 

"Working in the NHS generally all you see is a lot of chronic patients" Leona told the website. She admitted that the respiratory and surgical patients she sees in her NHS work are not her favourite area of the job, but she does find it rewarding to see people getting better. Sports injuries in particular she finds rewarding to treat.

Leona finds that her personality allows her to relate to the players and to get on with them well. Also she has a good understanding of sports training and the weights the players are working with. This, together with the enthusiasm and fitness needed for the job make her an ideal choice for club physio. 

The only thing she would change at the club are the facilities. "They're terrible" she told me. "As a physio trying to rehabilitate players it can be a nightmare". She commented on the lack of specialist equipment and the lack of a physio gym. "A lot of players don't need hands-on or manual therapy, they need advice and exercise. It's not always something they can do at a local gym, they need the facilities that a specialist physio gym provides". Like everyone else at the club Leona is waiting on the planning decision so that we can move the facilities forward as befits a top club.

When she first joined the club she found it a little difficult, "walking into a changing room full of naked men and not knowing where to look". But she was never going to let this deter her. Her professional attitude and abilities quickly established that she is the physio and they are the players; that's all there is to it.

She is quick to praise the playing staff "All the boys are brilliant, they're a really good laugh" she commented. And the good relationship continues after the rugby. "They're good to work with and I never feel excluded from anything. Even on a night out I'm never left on my own or anything like that".

Leona feels that this spirit is prevalent throughout the club and is part of what makes the job so attractive. So attractive indeed that intends to keep doing it for another year or two yet, even though it places a lot of demands upon her. She readily agreed that "It's a lot when you're working full time. Doing an extra 2 nights and a Saturday takes a lot out of me". It may just be rugby to us, but to Leona of course it's still work. As she said, "It's still part of my job so it's quite tiring".

Tiring or not Leona is happy to admit there have been some great times so far and hopefully many more to come. "The most memorable moments were the two Cup Finals at Murrayfield" she said, "particularly the first one as I'd never been there before, not even as a spectator".

There are concerns for a rugby physiotherapist as well as the good times. When asked about her greatest worries in the job she was quick to acknowledge that the biggest fear is missing something serious. "You could miss a fracture or something else major on the pitch" she conceded, "or I could give somebody the wrong advice and they could go out to play when they shouldn't". The very fact that she is aware of these dangers helps ensure that the players at Boroughmuir get the very best of attention from a skilled professional with a real interest in the club and her role within it.

Mark Furnivall