As a physician at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, a team physician at New Albany High School, a group fitness instructor and a mother of two athletes, sports are ingrained in Amy Valasek’s DNA.
Valasek recently received the 2024 President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition Community Leadership Award, which recognizes individuals who drive stronger, healthier communities through initiatives in sports, exercise, wellness and nutrition. By taking a look at Valasek’s impressive resume or listening to her passionately speak about the importance of sports medicine, it is clear why she was selected as one of the 20 recipients nationally.
Athlete through the ages
Although Valasek didn’t discover her passion for sports medicine until medical school, sports have always been a part of her life. A self-proclaimed city girl, she spent her days growing up in Philadelphia outside with a ball.
“We just played outside all the time,” Valasek says. “We played pick-up basketball, we played wiffle ball, we played neighborhood baseball.”
Her early days involved a myriad of sports, and she accredits her lack of burnout to this constant variety.
Ray LaVoie
Valasek’s favorite sports were soccer, basketball and softball, and she continued to play each in high school as a three-sport varsity athlete. She loved them equally, but what she truly valued were the lessons she gained from being on a team.
“It really taught me at such a young age, the importance of working as a team,” Valasek says. “The bonding and the experience of team sports – I feel like there’s nothing like it.”
After high school, she continued her passion for sports at a club sport level at Pennsylvania State University. She went on to attend medical school at The University of Maryland, with sports yet again being a major part of her life, meeting her husband, Bob, in a beer soccer league while she was there.
She’s been working in sports medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital for more than 10 years, although this had not always been her goal. Growing up, she wanted to be an oncologist, and she participated in cancer research before and during her time in medical school.
Valasek valued her time working in oncology, but when she stumbled across sports medicine, she knew she had found her niche. She didn’t know much about the field initially, but she quickly fell in love with it after seeing how the practice helped patients return to their passions each day.
“I kind of lucked into a rotation in residency… and I loved it,” Valasek says. “From that point forward, I knew that’s what I was going to do.”
Connected through movement
Valasek moved to New Albany in 2014 after landing a job at the Philip Heit Center for Healthy New Albany for Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and she has been heavily involved in the community ever since.
She immediately joined The Ohio State Health and Fitness Center New Albany, where she would work out in the mornings. A few years later, Cathy Thomas recommended she become a group fitness instructor and invited her to a training class for Les Mills Core.
Although she doubted her capabilities as an instructor, she decided on an impulse to go to the training. Now, seven years later, she has six certifications through the center.
Valasek never anticipated she would pursue a role as a fitness instructor, but she finds it to be a tool to extend her patients’ health through exercise.
“I’m a huge believer that exercise is medicine,” she says. “It’s probably the only prescription I would ever give unlimited refills of.”
Valasek loves helping people feel confident in movement, and she has found her own community in the people she teaches. She has even extended her work as a fitness instructor in the past year through activities such as teaching at New Albany Country Club and pairing up with Buddy Up to teach kids body combat.
In addition, she is a team physician for the New Albany High School football team. When she’s not on the sidelines aiding players or on the mic teaching classes, she’s watching her two daughters compete on the field at New Albany High School.
Doctor’s orders
In her time as a physician, Valasek has gained valuable insights into how to stay active and healthy throughout childhood and into adulthood.
In youth sports she finds that developing functional movement skills is crucial to keeping a growing body healthy. As youth sports become more specialized, overuse can be extremely damaging to young athletes.
Ray LaVoie
In fact, about 50 percent of Valasek’s day-to-day work stems from overuse injuries. She has found that the growing trend to fixate on just one sport in youth athletics leads to both physical and mental consequences.
“You risk injury, or just risk falling out of love with (the sport),” she says.
Valasek recommends keeping children involved in multiple sports in order to encourage well-rounded skill development. Rather than focusing on recruitment events or travel sports early into a child’s athletic career, it is more beneficial to work on fundamental conditioning.
Although competitive sports end for most when they receive their diploma, there are still plenty of opportunities to keep an active lifestyle.
Getting involved in group settings is a great way to incorporate fitness into daily schedules. Whether it be through group fitness classes, co-ed leagues or daily walks with friends and family, staying active should never feel like a chore.
“When I see patients, I ask ‘How do I keep you moving?’” Valasek says. “Not just when you’re 14, but when you’re 24 and 44.”
With the many hats she wears at work, home and in her community, Valasek’s to-do list is never-ending. However, she is forever energized by her love of active movement, and she works daily to improve the lives of others through the medicine of exercise.
“At the end of the day, I think movement daily is important for all of us,” Valasek says. “Mind. Body. Soul.”
Megan Brokamp is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at mbrokamp@cityscenemediagroup.com.
