Want to learn sports massage, so confused about how!

[Pleifna]

Hi,

First post on this forum so please be gentle with me!

I am 25 and have just started a Foundation Degree in Sport and Exercise Science which is a 2 year degree. I will complete a 3rd year straight afterwards to complete the BSc.

The course is the same syllabus as the normal BSc course meaning I am currently studying A+P as one of my first year modules. I am also fortunate that whilst it is a full time course I only have lectures 2 days a week.

I would really like to do an additional course during my first year so that I can practice sport massage on a self employed basis. I am quite fortunate to already have quite a few friends/contacts who would be ideal clients. I have read so much over the last few days trying to understand what course would be suitable. Ideally I want to do something locally and cannot afford several thousand pounds that some places are quoting!

My local college has a Level 3 Diploma in Body Massage (Advanced) starting in Feb for around £300 but unfortunately does not state who accredits the course.

They also have a VCTC Certificate in Swedish Massage (Also Level 3).

Would either of these courses be a good starting point? I've seen one day sports massage practitioner courses which require A+P and massage for entry. Would one of these courses the A+P module of my degree be adequate for entry?

I live in the Birmingham area. Be grateful for any help or advice!

 

[Emily Gool]

Hi,
to study sports massage you need to do a level 3 massage course. Im sure most providers will allow you to use your A&P as a pre-requisite too.

On the matter of cost, im afraid you get what you pay for and the one day 'practitioner' courses in sports massage are a waste of time, and in my opinion a con!

For impartial advice you should check with the General Council for Massage Therapies (GCMT), as they hold the educational standards in the UK, and have a list of Professional Assocations that run courses that meet National Occupational Standards and regulatory body requirements.

Good luck with your search, and your degree.

 

[Dodger Town]

Thanks for your reply, that was the sort of advice I was after. I was concerned as to whether a one-day course would be sufficient!

The GCMT info is useful too as i've been getting bogged down with all the PA's and their differing requirements.

I will definitely look into joining the Level 3 Diploma in Body Massage (Advanced) starting in Feb. Can you offer any advice of any further research/reading I could do prior to Feb to assist me?

 

[Kate B.]

Hi,

I agree with sportstherapy, you get what you pay for, doing your homework is essential.GCMT will definitely steer you in the right direction, most training bodies will advise you on any pre-course reading or study that may be helpful to you doing your course. Best of luck with your degree, also welcome to the HP forum too.

Therapist1960uk

 

[owlcroft]

The VTCT course sounds good to me.. Im doing sports fitness and massage at the moment, I have already got a swedish massage (VTCT level 3))diploma as part of my holistic diploma which I got a few years ago.

I too would be very wary of '1 day courses' theres no way you could learn all you need in one day about sports massage - even if like me you already do body/swedish massage.. Sports massage goes much deeper and you need to know about the soft tissues etc - muscle, ligaments and tendons and these cannot be learnt in just one day..

VTCT is a recognised qualification - I would be wary of the body massage class if you dont know which body its being taught under.

Good luck with your course and finding a sports massage class x



ooh and body and swedish massage are pretty much the same thing. Chose the one with a recognised body.

 

[Kwonbaby]

Read Mel Cash's book 'Sport & Remedial Massage', in my opinion, the best book on the subject, and ive read somewhere in the region of 10 books on sport/remedial massage.

 

[Coucoucounc]

Thanks sportstherapy,

I will order the book you have suggested. Having done some more research I have now found a 'VTCT Sport Massage Therapy' course (Level 3) at another local FE college which looks good. I am however under no illusion that this will just be a massage course and have little or no 'therapy' content. (Having read the Sport Therapy v Sport Massage thread all is starting to become a little clearer!).

I have also looked at the link in your signature to Active Health Group, (which I assume you have a commercial interest in) and have looked at the bridging courses to Level 5 (BTEC).

Would the Level 3 course I mention above be suitable to bridge at a later date to Level 5? If so, I think I may have found a way forward.

Thanks again for your advice and everyone else that has responded.

 

[Addy Theavnger]

Hi ajdj,

the bridging course is suitable for those with clinical experience and may not be available in the future due to progressions being made in the industry at present. I have worked in FE colleges as tutor and assessor and would say only that the syllabus might look great but its delivery varies greatly, speak to last years course cohort before signing up, I would personally take a different route and as many do, use your study leave periods to do an intensive sports massage course after completing your A&P module.
regards
BGFL

 

[Yahoo User]

Hello AJDJ, hope this helps. You need to decide what career path you wish to follow i.e. Sports Massage Practitioner or Sports Therapist-previous threads have covered this so I won't go over old ground. If you wish to become a Sports Massage Practitioner then you will find courses offered by both colleges of further education and private schools. I can't comment on the quality of courses apart from those accredited by the Sports Massage Association (I'm Vice Chairman of the Sports Massage Association).

Sorting the wheat from the Chaff is difficult at the moment, but the important thing is that National Occupation Standards are about to be released in respect of Sports Massage (imminent according to our colleagues at Skills Active) and these will set the standard/guidelines for providers and professional associations-so we should see an upsurge in consistency and standards.

Level 3 courses are mapped against current National Occupation Standards, Level 4 courses will be mapped (one hopes) against the new standards, level 5 courses are offered by private schools and will not be mapped against standards---yet.

These issues may become important in the future when seeking employment-at the moment the job market is immature and sucessful employment tends to rely more on factors such as experience.

You will also have realised that the private school route is more expensive than the FE route, however the private schools for the most part have a very high quality offering (which I suspect must continue to be their point of difference as they compete with the colleges of FE over the next few years).

It's a complex and changing area, and if you want more specific advice on becoming a Sports Massage Practitioner please feel free to PM me or contact me through the Sports Massage Association. For a Sports Therapy career BGFL and Sportstherapy are better qualified than I to offer advice.

 

[Deadhead Incognito]

Hello AJDJ, hope this helps. You need to decide what career path you wish to follow i.e. Sports Massage Practitioner or Sports Therapist-previous threads have covered this so I won't go over old ground. If you wish to become a Sports Massage Practitioner then you will find courses offered by both colleges of further education and private schools. I can't comment on the quality of courses apart from those accredited by the Sports Massage Association (I'm Vice Chairman of the Sports Massage Association).

Sorting the wheat from the Chaff is difficult at the moment, but the important thing is that National Occupation Standards are about to be released in respect of Sports Massage (imminent according to our colleagues at Skills Active) and these will set the standard/guidelines for providers and professional associations-so we should see an upsurge in consistency and standards.

Level 3 courses are mapped against current National Occupation Standards, Level 4 courses will be mapped (one hopes) against the new standards, level 5 courses are offered by private schools and will not be mapped against standards---yet.

These issues may become important in the future when seeking employment-at the moment the job market is immature and sucessful employment tends to rely more on factors such as experience.

You will also have realised that the private school route is more expensive than the FE route, however the private schools for the most part have a very high quality offering (which I suspect must continue to be their point of difference as they compete with the colleges of FE over the next few years).

It's a complex and changing area, and if you want more specific advice on becoming a Sports Massage Practitioner please feel free to PM me or contact me through the Sports Massage Association. For a Sports Therapy career BGFL and Sportstherapy are better qualified than I to offer advice.

 

[MisterTattiePie4U]

hi there, I just want to add a few things, as people do get sports massage, sport & remedial massage and sports therapy mixed up.

The current practitioner level in sports massage in the UK is level 3. Even when the new NOS are published, it will stay at level 3, however training providers will have to (thankfully) raise their standards, and this will be 'policed' by the governing body, GCMT, in conjunction with the awarding bodies, and the Professional Associations, which is why you should always train with a provider recognised by the GCMT. Courses above Level 3, ie, levels 4 and 5, or the university foundation/degrees, are generally a progression route, although many people are juming straight onto Level 5 courses (in Sport & Remedial Massage or Sports Therapy).

Regarding level 5 courses not being mapped, I cant comment on any other Level 5 apart from the one run by Active Health Group, because I was involved in developing their level 5's, and in particular the sports therapy diploma.

They have been mapped to Sports Therapy HND's/Foundation degree's, and it took over 12 months of working very closely with the awarding body, to achieve this. They are level 5 because of the complexity of the subject, the hours spent studying, the pre-requisites of 2 x Level 3 qualifications (equivalent to 4 A Levels), and is the reason why many universities all graduates to use this as accelerated entry into many sports therapy programmes.

As previous posters have mentioned, contact GCMT, they are the governing body, and will offer impartial advice on training. www.gcmt.org.uk

 

[StyncKeyncBot]

It's good to see the SMA mentioned on the GCMT website (see under education) and one of our accredited schools providing most of the courses and information on CPD. However, I should point out that we are not currently members of the GCMT-we hope to re-open discussions in the New Year and play our part in raising standards and unifying the Sports Massage profession.

One thing I couldn't help but notice is that the GCMT website is terribly out of date-somebody really needs to proof read it from front to back and provide some new content.

 

[naoqqate]

hi there, I just want to add a few things, as people do get sports massage, sport & remedial massage and sports therapy mixed up.

To clarify for those who are interested. Techniques such as Soft Tissue Release (STR), Muscle Energy Technique (MET) and Neuromuscular Technique (NMT) have in recent years been grouped under the title of 'remedial' techniques, although of course they are not used in just remedial situations and are not the only techniques used in a remedial situation. A few privately run schools include these in their courses, many more schools and colleges do not. I think that the idea has arisen that the SMA is somehow 'anti', remedial techniques. We are not----however we do not include remedial techniques in the qualifying hours part of our core curriculum. If we did this SMA accreditation would be limited to those few schools that currently include remedial techniques in their courses--------not a particularly inclusive approach. However we do encourage those schools not teaching remedial massage to draw their students' attention to these techniques and the CPD courses available in the market place. I think I should also make it clear that we represent practitioners who are skilled in remedial techniques and those who, currently, are not.

 

[Shaner]

Hi SM

That's interesting what you say about sports massage. How come (for example) ITEC Sports Massage includes STR, NMT and MET?

Eventhough some SM therapists may not agree with me, to me a massage therapist should be trained to able to competently practice holistic, remedial, sports etc etc forms of treatment. Then it's up to the individual therapist if they wish to specialise, ie in this case sports. Otherwise you end up with the situation we have today with varying standards. No wonder there is so many threads on Hp by members asking for advice. What a nightmare.

May be a better form of training would be holistic massage (stage 1), followed by remedial massage (stage 2), then specialist massage ie sports, MLD etc (stage 3). Also this would improve the academic standard, as each stage could be at least starting from NQF level 3 then levels 4 & 5. Or is that too easy and might interfere with vested interests. No I'm not pointing fingers at anyone - just stimulating debate.

Best Wishes

RP

 

[lreqmukmidyirqeya]

Hi SM,
sorry to be 'nit-picky', just wanted to point out that the SMA are mentioned in a 'paid for' advertisement on the GCMT website, and in my knowledge as part of a PA rep, SMA courses are not recognised by GCMT.

Its good that you are hoping to re-open discussions with the governing body in the New Year. As a former (albeit short lived) rep on GCMT, I know full well how hard all the people (unpaid volunteers) at GCMT work on behalf of the industry.

I do think that by the new year, standards should have been raised, with the new NOS in sports massage, written with a huge input by GCMT, being published.

With regards to unificiation of the sports massage profession, all PAs involved in sports massage are now sat around the GCMT table, with the exception of one

I also understand that all PAs need to ensure that their standards meet GCMTs', which is sometimes a bar to some organisations, however I know that GCMT are always happy to work with all PA's to ensure their standards meet.

Re the website, yes, I agree, and hence the reason GCMT are allowing paid adverts, to pay for the upkeep of said website.

Going back on topic, I can only re-iterate what has been mentioned before, anyone looking for a massage course, whether it be holistic, sports, remedial or any other, the first stop should be GCMT, and they will point you in the right direction.

 

[BigE]

Hi RP,
I think regardless of the level, people should be looking at the content of the course they choose.

I agree that there should be a progression; body massage, sports and then remedial (which is the natural order of it in my opinion).

It is my understanding that body massage and sports massage will be staying at level 3, not sure about remedial yet. The sports therapy level looks set to be raised to a minimum of level 4, but to be honest, there are very few sports therapy providers around anymore.

I firmly believe that there should be a progression route for massage therapists, just as there is in lots of other professions, and that the levels should depend on the complexity of the subject.

I know 100% that massage training standards in this country are set to be raised, and training providers that will not move with the times, will no doubt lose out, but that will be their choice. It is definately about time that standards were raised, and it can only benefit the genuine massage therapists/practitioners out there.

 

[Pamsuploala]

Hello Fasciaman, I was actually being a little ironic in my comments (I do, believe it or not, have a sense of humour), and I notice that since my posting the erroneous mention of the SMA, heads will roll, has been 'cleansed' from the site----it's as if we never existed---spooky!

On a more serious note I do appreciate the work done for free by GCMT members-it's disappointing that your website does not reflect this-content doesn't cost that much to publish, it just needs someone to write it. The same applies and perhaps more inexplicably with the CNHC website----

 

[Who Cares?]

Quote from sportsmassage "I think I should also make it clear that we represent practitioners who are skilled in remedial techniques and those who, currently, are not."

In response to this post directly, I sat around the table earlier this year with "Honorary" JW and RD who told us when questioned that the membership is inclusive of approx 30% of members who have no training in sports massage or merely have an interest ?

criteria taken directly from SMA website

"The SMA has an Open Membership Structure which is available to people who are interested and supportive of sports massage"

level 1 membership
"Open to students studying to become full members of the SMA at Levels 3 or 4 and those with no formal sports massage training but with a professional interest in the best practice for the use of sports massage for the prevention, management and treatment of active individuals."

And level 2 members

"Open to professionals who have attended general massage training and may hold qualifications in massage, and who provide general massage to active individuals."

I would suggest that these membership criteria need to be changed to ensure SMA meet minimum PA membership requirements of the GCMT .

 

[hdchjqzv]

On the subject of irony

Guess who sits at the GCMT table as non representative of any PA, who also placed the paid advertisment and has shared responsibility for the website? lol

 

[Dove is the Guide]

GCMT requirements are only in respect of full members.