Community values alive, well through annual athletic physicals

For Evangeline Parish residents and football fans, the annual athletic physicals held at Healthworks Rehab in Ville Platte signifies the unofficial beginning of football season and soon after that the school year.
But more than what it symbolizes, especially in the heat of this particular Louisiana summer, it’s an opportunity for student-athletes at Sacred Heart, Ville Platte High School, and Pine Prairie High School to check in and make sure everything is optimal as they head into another school year... physically, and especially within the community.
With checks on vision, basic health markers like height and weight and simple agility tests, students at the schools leave with peace of mind that their bodies are ready to compete.
But, more than that, the free event gives them a chance to see a community that cares for them and will take care of them no matter what.
And, quite frankly, in a day and age where kids are looking for affirmation in ways we couldn’t have dreamed of, the village pitching in to show its love is a breath of fresh air.
It’s almost surely a small gesture to the folks at Healthworks Rehab who are helping patients on a daily basis to begin with. But for the local schools, including Mamou and Basile who held their physicals off-site, it’s a huge assist in one of the most vital portions of their jobs.
As schools and coaches, the primary concern is for the well-being of their students and Rehabworks does its part in ensuring no child is stepping into their season in a compromised position.
A big part of catching those warning signs is the physical testing athletes go through during the physical. Their bodies are put through basic testing designed to check joint mobility, physical strength, flexibility and posture.
In terms of vitals their hearts, lungs, bellies, ears, noses and throats are all tested as well.
Physically, the gamut is run. But, emotionally, it’s time we recognize what this could mean for us as a community.
Like it or not, our kids are bombarded with more than we ever could’ve imagined. The pressure of being a kid is more than we dealt with growing up.
The annual physical gives our community and parish the rare opportunity to reach out and give back.
In turn, perhaps our students begin to feel the love we so desperately want them to.
In a social media era where stimulation is at a constant and all-time high, there isn’t much that our kids can’t find on the internet.
Be it the answer to a calculus problem or the answer to the meaning of life, opportunities like these annual physicals give our kids something they can’t get from the internet.
And that's real and genuine help from real people who are asking for nothing in return.
It’s one of the things that I’ve learned in the past couple of years doing sports in this parish. Evangeline Parish is very aware of and contributes to how to make a kid the best man or woman they can be.
And unlike the physicals themselves, you can’t put a price tag on a community giving back and helping each other out.