By Karson Mui, D.C., DACBSP
Professional sports medicine in Newton, MA is shaped by experience, teamwork, communication, and the responsibility of caring for athletes at the highest levels of competition.
At Mui Chiropractic & Sports Medicine, our experience extends far beyond the walls of our Newton clinic. For seven years, we have worked as part of the medical team for the New England Free Jacks. We have supported the Boston Fleet and athletes who advanced to the Olympic Games. Through our work with WMI Global, we have also traveled across North America and around the world to provide medical support for elite action sports and high-risk competitions.
These experiences have influenced how we evaluate injuries, communicate with other healthcare professionals, and care for every patient who walks into our office.
Seven Years of Professional Sports Medicine With the New England Free Jacks
For the past seven years, Mui Chiropractic & Sports Medicine has proudly served as part of the medical team for the New England Free Jacks of Major League Rugby.
During that time, the Free Jacks became one of the most successful organizations in the league, winning three consecutive MLR championships.
Being part of those championship seasons involved much more than providing treatment on game day. Professional rugby players face significant physical demands throughout the entire season. They sprint, tackle, lift, change direction, absorb contact, and compete through injuries and fatigue.
Our role has included helping athletes prepare for practices and matches, managing musculoskeletal complaints, supporting recovery, and working with the rest of the medical team to help players return to competition safely.
The championships were unforgettable, but the most valuable part of the experience has been learning how a professional medical team works together.
Professional Sports Medicine Requires Collaboration
Professional sports medicine is never the work of one provider.
Athletes receive the best care when multiple professionals communicate and contribute their individual expertise. Throughout our work in professional sports, we have worked side by side with:
- Medical doctors
- Team physicians
- Certified athletic trainers
- Physical therapists
- Massage therapists
- Strength and conditioning coaches
- Performance specialists
- Coaches and team administrators
Each member of the medical and performance team sees the athlete from a different perspective.
Athletic trainers often monitor the athlete daily. Physicians evaluate medical concerns and determine when imaging, medication, or specialist referral may be necessary. Physical therapists oversee progressive rehabilitation. Massage therapists support recovery and soft-tissue care. Chiropractors assess joint mobility, movement, biomechanics, and musculoskeletal function.
The goal is not for one provider to control every aspect of care. The goal is for everyone to communicate clearly and make decisions that protect the athlete’s health.
That collaborative approach is central to professional sports medicine in Newton, MA, and it remains an important part of how we care for patients in our office.
Supporting the Boston Fleet and Olympic Athletes
Our work with the Boston Fleet has given us the opportunity to support some of the best women’s hockey players in the world.
Professional hockey requires speed, strength, balance, mobility, and the ability to tolerate repeated physical contact. Players must recover quickly between practices, games, travel, and international competition.
Working with the Fleet has also been personally meaningful because of our commitment to supporting women’s professional sports.
Seven Boston Fleet athletes went on to represent their countries at the Olympic Games. Watching players we had treated compete on the world stage was an unforgettable experience.
We watched Fleet players representing Team USA win the Olympic gold medal. We also watched our player representing Switzerland earn an Olympic bronze medal.
The athletes earned those medals through years of training, sacrifice, and preparation. However, seeing athletes we had supported reach that level was a proud moment for everyone involved in their care.
It reinforced an important truth about professional sports medicine: success is rarely created by one person. It is the result of athletes, coaches, medical providers, teammates, families, and performance staff working together.
Professional Sports Medicine Around the World With WMI Global
Our experience in professional sports medicine also includes extensive work with WMI Global.
Through WMI Global, we have been sent across the United States, throughout North America, and around the world to support athletes competing in high-risk and high-performance sports.
This work has included events in Aspen, Colorado, Beijing, China, San Diego, California, and cities throughout North America.
Each event presents a different environment, but the responsibility remains the same: prepare for potential emergencies, support the athletes, communicate with the event medical team, and make decisions that prioritize safety.
Supporting Shaun White’s Snow League in Aspen and Beijing
Through WMI Global, we have traveled from Aspen, Colorado, to Beijing, China, to support athletes competing in Shaun White’s Snow League.
Elite snowboarding combines speed, height, technical skill, and significant risk. Athletes perform difficult maneuvers while moving rapidly through courses made of snow and ice.
Medical support for these events requires preparation for a wide range of injuries, including:
- Head injuries
- Spinal injuries
- Shoulder injuries
- Knee injuries
- Fractures
- Lacerations
- Cold-related illness
- High-impact trauma
The medical team must understand the course, weather conditions, transportation routes, evacuation procedures, and available medical resources.
International competition adds additional challenges. Medical teams must adapt to different venues, healthcare systems, languages, cultures, and operational procedures while maintaining a consistent standard of care.
Supporting the Snow League has strengthened our ability to make decisions in demanding environments while working closely with physicians, athletic trainers, rescue personnel, and event organizers.
Traveling Across North America With Nitro Circus
Our WMI Global experience has also included traveling across North America with Nitro Circus.
Nitro Circus athletes perform complex and dangerous stunts involving motocross, BMX, skateboarding, scooters, and other freestyle sports. These athletes launch from enormous ramps, perform aerial maneuvers, and land at high speeds.
Medical coverage begins long before the athlete enters the course.
The medical team must review:
- Emergency action plans
- Course access points
- Local emergency medical services
- Ambulance locations
- Trauma center options
- Athlete extraction procedures
- Communication systems
- Venue-specific risks
Injuries may range from abrasions and sprains to fractures, concussions, spinal trauma, or serious internal injuries.
Traveling with Nitro Circus reinforced the importance of consistency. The city, venue, and layout may change, but the medical standard cannot.
Every event requires preparation, equipment, communication, and a clear response plan.
UCI BMX Supercross and Freestyle Medical Coverage
Our professional sports medicine experience has also included UCI BMX Supercross and freestyle events.
BMX Supercross is fast, physical, and unpredictable. Riders accelerate down steep starting ramps, race over jumps, and compete through banked turns while riding close to one another.
A single mistake can result in a multi-rider crash.
Freestyle BMX presents a different type of risk. Riders perform aerial tricks over ramps, concrete, wood, and metal features. Falls can occur from significant heights and at high speeds.
Medical personnel must evaluate the entire mechanism of injury. This includes the athlete’s speed, landing position, protective equipment, neurological status, and immediate symptoms.
The course may need to be stopped while the athlete is evaluated. The medical team must access the athlete safely, perform a focused examination, protect the cervical spine when necessary, and determine whether emergency transportation is required.
This environment demands calm decision-making and close coordination with physicians, athletic trainers, paramedics, rescue personnel, event staff, and international sporting federations.
High-Speed Jet Boat Racing at San Diego Bayfair
One of the most unique events we have supported is high-speed jet boat and hydroplane racing at San Diego Bayfair.
Boat racing creates medical challenges that are very different from rugby, hockey, snowboarding, or BMX.
Athletes compete at extremely high speeds over water. A crash may involve sudden deceleration, high-energy impact, submersion, environmental exposure, or complex rescue operations.
Medical planning requires coordination between:
- Rescue boat crews
- Divers
- Fire departments
- Emergency medical services
- Event physicians
- Athletic trainers
- Race officials
- Safety personnel
- Local hospitals and trauma centers
The response plan must be established before racing begins.
The medical team must know how an injured driver will be removed from the boat, transferred from the water, assessed, packaged, and transported.
At a high-speed water event, communication must be direct and every team member must understand their role.
This type of professional sports medicine experience has strengthened our understanding of emergency preparation, scene safety, patient transport, and coordinated medical response.
The Responsibility of Caring for Professional Athletes
Professional athletes often want to return to competition immediately.
They may have trained for years for one event. They may feel pressure from themselves, teammates, coaches, sponsors, or their country.
However, the role of the medical team is not simply to help an athlete return as quickly as possible.
The responsibility is to protect the athlete.
That may mean removing the athlete from competition, recommending further evaluation, arranging emergency transportation, or determining that a return to play is not medically appropriate.
Medical decisions must be based on the athlete’s symptoms, examination findings, mechanism of injury, safety protocols, and the potential consequences of continued participation.
Short-term performance should never be placed ahead of long-term health.
What Professional Sports Medicine Has Taught Us
Years of working with professional teams, international federations, Olympic athletes, and high-risk sporting events have shaped the way we practice.
Professional sports medicine has taught us to:
- Communicate clearly with other providers
- Understand the demands of each sport
- Recognize when referral or imaging is necessary
- Evaluate the entire athlete
- Adjust treatment based on objective findings
- Remain calm under pressure
- Prepare for emergencies before they occur
- Respect the expertise of every team member
- Prioritize long-term health
- Know when an athlete should not return to play
These lessons are just as important in our Newton office as they are on a professional sideline.
Professional Sports Medicine in Newton, MA Is for Everyone
You do not need to be a professional athlete to benefit from professional-level care.
Most of the patients at Mui Chiropractic & Sports Medicine are not professional competitors. They are runners, cyclists, high school athletes, parents, office workers, weekend warriors, teachers, first responders, and people who simply want to move with less pain.
The same principles used in professional sports apply to every patient.
A high school athlete deserves careful communication with parents, coaches, and athletic trainers.
A runner deserves a safe and progressive return-to-running plan.
A patient recovering from surgery deserves coordinated care with a surgeon and physical therapist.
A parent with back pain deserves the same attention and clinical reasoning as an athlete preparing for a championship.
The setting may be different, but the standard of care should remain high.
Bringing Professional Sports Medicine Experience Home to Newton
Our work has taken us from the championship sidelines of the New England Free Jacks to the Boston Fleet treatment room.
It has taken us from Aspen to Beijing with the Snow League, across North America with Nitro Circus, to UCI BMX competitions, and onto the high-speed waters of San Diego Bayfair.
Each experience has expanded our understanding of injury management, teamwork, athlete safety, emergency planning, and professional responsibility.
We are proud of the three MLR championships, the Olympic athletes we have supported, and the international events we have covered.
However, we are equally proud to bring those experiences home and use them to help patients in Newton and the surrounding communities.
At Mui Chiropractic & Sports Medicine, our goal is to provide professional sports medicine in Newton, MA, for athletes and active individuals at every level.
You do not need to compete professionally to deserve professional-level care.
Whether your goal is returning to work, recovering from an injury, completing a race, competing for your school, or playing with your children, we are here to become a trusted part of your healthcare team.
The greatest lesson we have learned from working with the pros is simple:
The best outcomes happen when experienced professionals work together and put the patient first.
Frequently Asked Questions About Professional Sports Medicine in Newton, MA
Do you only treat professional athletes?
No. Although we work with professional athletes, Olympians, and professional teams, most of our patients are active adults, student-athletes, runners, cyclists, parents, and weekend warriors.
What is professional sports medicine?
Professional sports medicine is a collaborative approach to injury evaluation, treatment, rehabilitation, recovery, and return to activity. It may involve chiropractors, physicians, athletic trainers, physical therapists, massage therapists, and strength coaches.
What professional teams has Mui Chiropractic worked with?
Mui Chiropractic & Sports Medicine has worked with the New England Free Jacks and the Boston Fleet. We have also supported international and action sports events through WMI Global.
What events have you covered through WMI Global?
Our experience includes Shaun White’s Snow League, Nitro Circus, UCI BMX Supercross and freestyle events, and high-speed boat racing at San Diego Bayfair.
Can professional sports medicine help recreational athletes?
Yes. The same principles used with professional athletes can help recreational athletes recover from injuries, improve movement, manage training demands, and return to activity safely.
Do you work with other healthcare providers?
Yes. We regularly collaborate with medical doctors, athletic trainers, physical therapists, massage therapists, strength coaches, and other healthcare professionals.