The Canada Games are one of the most authentic showcases of high-performance amateur sport in the country, a national event where emerging athletes, national-level competition and the spirit of community all collide.
While many Certified Athletic Therapists (ATs) work in day-to-day clinics, helping a wide range of clients recover from injuries and return to activity, the Canada Games offer a very different challenge: to deliver critical medical care in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. For Certified AT Angie Hurley, the 2025 Canada Games in St. John's, Newfoundland, were exactly that and more.
Angie didn't just perform her duties on the field of play, but behind the scenes, serving as the Medical Manager overseeing all medical services across 19 sports in 22 venues. With extreme environmental conditions and limited local resources, this role was far from ordinary – or simple. But Angie showcased why her skills as a Certified AT equipped her to thrive in a complex, pressure-filled leadership role, balancing logistics, emergency response, interprofessional coordination, and athlete-centred care with calm and competence.
Angie joined the Host Society full-time over a year before the Games, responsible for ensuring all medical services at the 2025 Canada Games would run smoothly for athletes, spectators and staff. This meant planning everything from sports injuries on the field to mental health, public health and anti-doping efforts. Early on, she studied how previous Games had approached medical services, visited every venue to assess needs, and began forming critical “partners and networks that we would come to lean on at Games time,” she shared. These early stages demanded the kind of systems thinking and foresight that Certified ATs regularly apply in working environments, just on a much larger scale.
During this time, Angie also built two groups: the Medical Services Committee to represent medical needs at the Venue Team meeting, and the Core Medical Team, which she explained as the “leadership and expert panel” consisting of the Chief Medical Officer, Chief Therapist, Chief Nurse and Polyclinic Manager, among others. On top of all this, she also had to organize the inventory management and procurement for the entire Games.
Certified ATs are trained to lead in dynamic environments. Whether coordinating injury management or helping a team function at its best, they understand how to balance immediate care with long-term planning. Angie’s work leading up to the Games was a real-world example of those abilities in action.
Once the Games began, her role shifted from planning to on-the-ground leadership and problem-solving. “Each day ran from early morning to late night, ensuring athletes, volunteers, Mission staff, and venue supervisors had what they needed.” Angie shared.
She led a multidisciplinary medical team that included nurses, Certified ATs, physiotherapists, chiropractors, massage therapists, and venue staff. She also coordinated closely with external partners responsible for spectator medical services and doping control operations. Her leadership combined medical insight, logistical coordination, and the calm under pressure that Certified ATs are trained to maintain.
That calm was especially critical when the unexpected hit. Angie was faced with wildfires, 30+? heatwaves, and poor air quality that disrupted events and increased demand for cooling, PPE, and mental health support. “Hands down, the hardest experience of my career,” she said.
Angie quickly adapted protocols and resources. Thanks to strong planning and inherent field instincts, she was able to lead through uncertainty.
“The second biggest challenge was the lack of sport practitioners on the island,” Angie continued, noting that there were only about ten certified professionals across all national organizations.
To bridge this gap, she leaned heavily on the Sponsored Medical team and brought in two Certified ATs to deliver a Red Cross Responder course to prepare local practitioners to support on-field care more effectively.
This was not just a makeshift reaction, but an investment in local capacity led by an individual who understood and prioritized both clinical needs and community development.
Angie’s Athletic Therapy perspective shaped her planning from the very start. During early venue visits and while developing the Comprehensive Athlete Delivery (CAD), she focused on field visibility, athlete access to care, and emergency vehicle access, considerations critical for safe sport delivery.
“I think clinically, my experiences in busy varsity clinics never made the high traffic days seem overwhelming,” Angie added. Beyond clinical expertise, Certified ATs are trained to work in unpredictable, high-volume settings, uniquely tailoring care to each case. This flexibility and readiness to collaborate are what allowed Angie to succeed in a role that required constant adaptation and coordination.
“The Canada Games create a temporary 'ideal world' for injury response, where multiple professions work seamlessly together,” Angie shared. Athletes flow from the field of play to therapy clinics, physicians’ offices, hospitals when necessary, and back, all with a high level of trust at every stage.
Certified ATs are not only trained to provide hands-on care but also to act as a bridge that facilitates smooth collaboration between diverse medical and sports professionals. This ability to connect and coordinate makes Certified ATs like Angie ideal leaders in multi-disciplinary environments.
For Angie, leading the Medical Services team in the largest multi-sport event in Canada, and doing so at home in her home province, was more than a professional milestone. It was a banner career moment rooted in identity, pride and community.
“Athletic Therapy is more than a profession for me — it’s one of my proudest identities,” Angie said. “It is when an athlete realizes that they can't just walk it off and they start to worry, until they see you and their demeanour shifts back to reassured. It is when a client leaves my clinic, and their answer to 'how are you feeling' is ‘feeling hopeful’. It is a community,” she continued.
Sitting on a beach at the end of the Games, with her feet in the Atlantic Ocean alongside colleagues from across Canada, Angie reflected on what it all meant. This moment of reflection painted a larger one for us, that Certified Athletic Therapists bring more than clinical expertise, but also leadership, presence, and the ability to hold steady when it matters most.
For those looking to follow in her footsteps, Angie encourages young Certified ATs to apply for Sponsored Medical positions at events like the Canada Games. These roles offer hands-on experience in fast-paced clinic settings, field-of-play response, exposure to a wide variety of sports, and valuable interprofessional networking.
Because beyond the taping tables and emergency bags, Certified ATs have the training, perspective and diverse presence to lead. Whether on the sidelines or in the background, Certified ATs are built for these moments, and the system is stronger when they are at the table.
Certified ATs play a vital role not only at high-profile sporting events but also in supporting overall health and well-being. Curious how a Certified AT can help you perform at your best? Find one here.
While many Certified Athletic Therapists (ATs) work in day-to-day clinics, helping a wide range of clients recover from injuries and return to activity, the Canada Games offer a very different challenge: to deliver critical medical care in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. For Certified AT Angie Hurley, the 2025 Canada Games in St. John's, Newfoundland, were exactly that and more.
Angie didn't just perform her duties on the field of play, but behind the scenes, serving as the Medical Manager overseeing all medical services across 19 sports in 22 venues. With extreme environmental conditions and limited local resources, this role was far from ordinary – or simple. But Angie showcased why her skills as a Certified AT equipped her to thrive in a complex, pressure-filled leadership role, balancing logistics, emergency response, interprofessional coordination, and athlete-centred care with calm and competence.
Angie joined the Host Society full-time over a year before the Games, responsible for ensuring all medical services at the 2025 Canada Games would run smoothly for athletes, spectators and staff. This meant planning everything from sports injuries on the field to mental health, public health and anti-doping efforts. Early on, she studied how previous Games had approached medical services, visited every venue to assess needs, and began forming critical “partners and networks that we would come to lean on at Games time,” she shared. These early stages demanded the kind of systems thinking and foresight that Certified ATs regularly apply in working environments, just on a much larger scale.
During this time, Angie also built two groups: the Medical Services Committee to represent medical needs at the Venue Team meeting, and the Core Medical Team, which she explained as the “leadership and expert panel” consisting of the Chief Medical Officer, Chief Therapist, Chief Nurse and Polyclinic Manager, among others. On top of all this, she also had to organize the inventory management and procurement for the entire Games.
Certified ATs are trained to lead in dynamic environments. Whether coordinating injury management or helping a team function at its best, they understand how to balance immediate care with long-term planning. Angie’s work leading up to the Games was a real-world example of those abilities in action.
Once the Games began, her role shifted from planning to on-the-ground leadership and problem-solving. “Each day ran from early morning to late night, ensuring athletes, volunteers, Mission staff, and venue supervisors had what they needed.” Angie shared.
She led a multidisciplinary medical team that included nurses, Certified ATs, physiotherapists, chiropractors, massage therapists, and venue staff. She also coordinated closely with external partners responsible for spectator medical services and doping control operations. Her leadership combined medical insight, logistical coordination, and the calm under pressure that Certified ATs are trained to maintain.
That calm was especially critical when the unexpected hit. Angie was faced with wildfires, 30+? heatwaves, and poor air quality that disrupted events and increased demand for cooling, PPE, and mental health support. “Hands down, the hardest experience of my career,” she said.
Angie quickly adapted protocols and resources. Thanks to strong planning and inherent field instincts, she was able to lead through uncertainty.
“The second biggest challenge was the lack of sport practitioners on the island,” Angie continued, noting that there were only about ten certified professionals across all national organizations.
To bridge this gap, she leaned heavily on the Sponsored Medical team and brought in two Certified ATs to deliver a Red Cross Responder course to prepare local practitioners to support on-field care more effectively.
This was not just a makeshift reaction, but an investment in local capacity led by an individual who understood and prioritized both clinical needs and community development.
Angie’s Athletic Therapy perspective shaped her planning from the very start. During early venue visits and while developing the Comprehensive Athlete Delivery (CAD), she focused on field visibility, athlete access to care, and emergency vehicle access, considerations critical for safe sport delivery.
“I think clinically, my experiences in busy varsity clinics never made the high traffic days seem overwhelming,” Angie added. Beyond clinical expertise, Certified ATs are trained to work in unpredictable, high-volume settings, uniquely tailoring care to each case. This flexibility and readiness to collaborate are what allowed Angie to succeed in a role that required constant adaptation and coordination.
“The Canada Games create a temporary 'ideal world' for injury response, where multiple professions work seamlessly together,” Angie shared. Athletes flow from the field of play to therapy clinics, physicians’ offices, hospitals when necessary, and back, all with a high level of trust at every stage.
Certified ATs are not only trained to provide hands-on care but also to act as a bridge that facilitates smooth collaboration between diverse medical and sports professionals. This ability to connect and coordinate makes Certified ATs like Angie ideal leaders in multi-disciplinary environments.
For Angie, leading the Medical Services team in the largest multi-sport event in Canada, and doing so at home in her home province, was more than a professional milestone. It was a banner career moment rooted in identity, pride and community.
“Athletic Therapy is more than a profession for me — it’s one of my proudest identities,” Angie said. “It is when an athlete realizes that they can't just walk it off and they start to worry, until they see you and their demeanour shifts back to reassured. It is when a client leaves my clinic, and their answer to 'how are you feeling' is ‘feeling hopeful’. It is a community,” she continued.
Sitting on a beach at the end of the Games, with her feet in the Atlantic Ocean alongside colleagues from across Canada, Angie reflected on what it all meant. This moment of reflection painted a larger one for us, that Certified Athletic Therapists bring more than clinical expertise, but also leadership, presence, and the ability to hold steady when it matters most.
For those looking to follow in her footsteps, Angie encourages young Certified ATs to apply for Sponsored Medical positions at events like the Canada Games. These roles offer hands-on experience in fast-paced clinic settings, field-of-play response, exposure to a wide variety of sports, and valuable interprofessional networking.
Because beyond the taping tables and emergency bags, Certified ATs have the training, perspective and diverse presence to lead. Whether on the sidelines or in the background, Certified ATs are built for these moments, and the system is stronger when they are at the table.
Certified ATs play a vital role not only at high-profile sporting events but also in supporting overall health and well-being. Curious how a Certified AT can help you perform at your best? Find one here.
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