Football Injuries Sport Medicine Webinar

Virtual via Zoom Meetings

November 14

Saturday, November 14, 2026

9 am MDT – 1 pm MDT

Presented by the Calgary Stampeders Medical Team in partnership with the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine

This 4 hour webinar will use the backdrop of the Grey Cup to review common musculoskeletal problems seen in primary care, the benefits of exercise and strength training and mental health issues seen in individuals who are physically active.

Target Audience

The target audience is a physician of any specialty, with or without their CASEM diploma, who wishes to develop and enhance their knowledge of and skill in the care of the athlete. This conference may also be of interest to allied health professionals who are involved with the care of the athlete of football teams.

Preliminary Program

Times are in Mountain Daylight Time – Calgary, AB (GMT-6)
Please note that 25% of the presentations will be dedicated to a Q&A session, which will immediately follow the presentation.

9:00 AM

THIGH & CALF: Every Day Counts: Can We Accelerate Muscle Injury Recovery?

10:00 AM

THE FOOTBALL KNEE: Play, Protect or Fix? Managing Knee Pathology During the Season

11:00 AM

HAND & WRIST: Can He Still Play? Protect It, Play Through It, or Fix It?

12:00 PM

GAME-DAY DECISIONS: Can He Play, and Can We Help Him Play? Risk, Protection, Pain Control & Performance

1:00 PM – Adjournment

Case Based Learning & Participation

Each section will have real-life CFL cases prepared and presented to the audience. At the beginning of each section the audience will vote live on which cases they most want discussed and in what order. Audience participation, interactive questions and live voting will be used at key decision points within the cases. Attendees are encouraged to post questions in chat so they can be brought directly into the panel discussions.

Across every case, the discussion continually returns to four practical questions:

Can they play?
What can we do to accelerate recovery?
What is the risk of playing?
What objective criteria are we using to make that decision?

The overall goal is for attendees to leave with practical approaches they can apply immediately, while also seeing how evidence, multidisciplinary expertise, athlete preference, position demands and the unique pressures of elite sport influence real-world clinical decision-making.

Overall Learning Objectives

By the end of the symposium, participants will be able to:

Apply evidence-informed approaches to the assessment and management of common musculoskeletal injuries in elite football athletes.
Integrate clinical examination, imaging, rehabilitation and objective functional criteria into individualized treatment and return-to-play decisions.
Evaluate injury severity, sport-specific demands, athlete preferences and risks when determining appropriate management, continued participation or referral.

THIGH & CALF: Every Day Counts: Can We Accelerate Muscle Injury Recovery?

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Differentiate common thigh and calf muscle injuries using clinical assessment and appropriate imaging.
2. Apply evidence-informed treatment and rehabilitation strategies, including objective criteria for progression and return to play.
3. Identify factors associated with delayed recovery and recurrent injury, including training load, strength deficits and psychological readiness.

THE FOOTBALL KNEE: Play, Protect or Fix? Managing Knee Pathology During the Season

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Assess common knee injuries and pathology encountered in football using clinical examination and appropriate imaging.
2. Compare conservative, procedural and surgical management options based on injury characteristics, symptoms and functional demands.
3. Apply clinical and functional criteria to determine activity modification, referral and return-to-play decisions.

HAND & WRIST: Can He Still Play? Protect It, Play Through It, or Fix It?

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Identify common hand and wrist injuries in elite football and recognize injuries requiring further investigation or intervention.
2. Apply appropriate assessment, imaging, protection and rehabilitation strategies to facilitate safe participation when appropriate.
3. Integrate injury characteristics, position-specific demands and functional requirements into return-to-play decisions.

GAME-DAY DECISIONS: Can He Play, and Can We Help Him Play? Risk, Protection, Pain Control & Performance

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Assess acute game-day injuries and determine the need for immediate treatment, further investigation or modification of participation.
2. Evaluate the risks and benefits of pain management, protection, bracing and other interventions when considering continued play.
3. Integrate injury severity, functional performance, sport demands and athlete goals into individualized game-day and return-to-play decisions.

Organizing Committee

Dr. David Manning, MD, CCFP(SEM), Dip. Sport and Exercise Medicine, has been a team physician with the Calgary Stampeders since 2015, and stepped into the lead physician role in 2022. He is also a team physician for the Calgary Flames since 2014 and regularly supports many olympians and national organizations, having been head physician for Canada’s National Men’s Olympic Hockey Team at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics.

Dr. Manning is a founding partner and CEO of Group23 Sports Medicine. He attended medical school at the University of Calgary and completed his Sports and Exercise Medicine Fellowship at the University of Alberta in 2013. He is a member of the Canadian College of Family Physicians, holding a Certificate of Added Competence in Sports Medicine and Diploma of Sports Medicine from the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine. His clinical practice revolves around sport related musculoskeletal injury management and ultrasound guided injection therapy.