Nova Scotia’s first Certified Sport Massage Therapist
Congratulations Suzanne Moroney on becoming Nova Scotia’s first Certified Sport Massage Therapist
Suzanne Moroney, Registered Massage Therapist and owner of Coastal Sports and Wellness, a multidisciplinary clinic located in Bedford, NS, recently added another title to her resume: Certified Sport Massage Therapist.
Suzanne is the first RMT in Nova Scotia to receive her certification as a sport massage therapist, and is one of only two certified sport massage therapists in Atlantic Canada.
The SMT certification requires candidates to complete 500 hours of on-site volunteer time spread out across many different areas, including participation with contact and non-contact teams, sport specific outreaches, and events. The certification also requires massage therapists to work with at least three different sports, and organize medical/SMT participation at events. In addition, massage therapists must also have their Sport First Responder certification and 500 hours of clinical experience as a RMT.
Following the completion of these volunteer requirements, candidates must also complete a written and practical exam and attain a minimum score of 70%
Suzanne has been diligently pursuing her volunteer hours for the last eight years. She completed her 500 hours in May of this year, and passed her written and practical exams this past October.
In addition to her experience as a registered massage therapist over the last nine years, Suzanne has also been incredibly active in the gymnastics community. She began gymnastics at the age of two, and started training as a competitive gymnast at the national level when she was eight. She continued on this trajectory for the next twenty years, and competed throughout college and the first seven years of her career as an RMT.
During her team placement, Suzanne joined Gymnastics Nova Scotia, and from there visited each local club once a week, as well as committing to attend all competitions. Despite already completing her necessary SMT(C) volunteer hours, Suzanne continues to spend every Saturday at the Taiso Gymnastics Training Centre in Sackville, NS as a volunteer. She aims to give back to the sport and community that helped shaped so much of her life and career.
Sports massage therapy is applicable to athletes pre-, inter-, or post-event. Certified SMTs can provide restorative and training massages. The Canadian Sports Massage Therapist Association lists the following as benefits to sports massage therapy:
Pre- Event
General relaxation or readiness
Reduced anxiety and competition stress
Increased feelings of well being
Increased alertness and mental clarity
Boost in confidence
Aided mental preparation
Inter-Event
Keeps muscles warm
Assists in reducing Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)
Maintains muscle and joint flexibility
Post Event
Reduces inflammatory markers that minimizes Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)
Reduces recuperative time period post competition
Helps in identifying any new or prospective injury sites
Restorative /Training Massage
Allow you to recover from everyday training load
Assess and treat a minor injury before it becomes worse
Help you reduce the risk of injury
Fine tune treatments with specific techniques with trigger points and areas of stress.
Relieve tender areas before they become a problem
If you’d like to book an appointment with Suzanne Moroney, RMT, SMT(C), you can do so online or by calling Coastal Sports and Wellness at (902) 404-8034.