Allegheny Health Network Sports Medicine Services
The West Jefferson Hills School District proudly partners with Allegheny Health Network to
meet all of your student athlete's medical needs. With this partnership, a certified athletic
trainer is on-site for practices and home athletic events. Our certified athletic trainer specializes in emergency care, concussion management, and injury prevention/treatment. Aside from providing immediate care, your student-athlete will have access to specialized care provided by an AHN team physician, extended orthopedic and medical professionals, physical therapy, and sports performance through their certified athletic trainer.

What is an athletic trainer?
https://www.atyourownrisk.org/who-are-athletic-trainers?source=nata-cornerpeel%C2%A0
 
Additionally, AHN has partnered with Healthy Roster, a free technology system that allows you to electronically upload athletic medical forms, track your student athlete's injury status, and keep an open line of communication between you and your certified athletic trainer. Please see the section titled Healthy Roster for more information.

Athletics Forms
      1. All athletes are required to turn in a completed PIAA physical form packet, found on the sidebar of this webpage, before the start date of their initial sports season each school year. Please find start dates for the 2024-2025 school year athletic seasons below.
      2. Physical evaluations that were completed for school or other extracurricular activities will not be accepted for athletics; section 6 of the PIAA packet, "PIAA Comprehensive Initial Pre-Participation Physical Evaluation and Certification of Authorized Medical Examiner," will need to be completed by approved medical personal (found at the bottom of section 6) and
submitted with PIAA packet.
      3. All athletes participating in more than one sport will need to turn in section 7 "Re-Certification by Parent/Guardian," and additionally if an injury occurred between sports seasons, section 8 "Re-Certification by Licensed Physician of Medicine or Osteopathic Medicine."
These forms also need to be completed and turned in before or on the start date of additional sports seasons. Failure to submit the above-mentioned documentation on the designated season start dates will result in an athlete's inability to participate. An athlete will continue to be withheld from season practices until all of the forms are received by the athletic trainer.

Fall 2024
August 5, 2024 - 1st day for football and boys’ golf
August 12, 2024 - 1st day for cheer, cross country, soccer, girls’ tennis, and girls’ volleyball

Winter 2024-25
November 15, 2024 - 1st day for basketball, bowling, gymnastics, swimming, and wrestling

Spring 2024
March 3, 2025 - 1st day for baseball, softball, boys’ tennis, track & field, and boys’ volleyball

Athletic Trainers & Team Physician
Jennifer McNamara, MS, LAT, ATC, NREMT
[email protected]
Jen completed her Bachelor’s degree in athletic training at the University of Pittsburgh in 2020. She then pursued a Master’s in advanced athletic training with a concentration in youth and adolescent health at the University of South Florida and graduated in 2022. She has been an athletic trainer with the Allegheny Health Network since 2020, and at Thomas Jefferson since 2022.

Dylan Nessenson, MS, LAT, ATC
[email protected]
Dylan completed his Bachelor’s degree in athletic training at the University of Pittsburgh in 2018. He then pursued a Master’s in athletic training at East Stroudsburg and graduated in 2019. He has been an athletic trainer at Thomas Jefferson since 2019, and at Allegheny Health Network since 2022.

Healthy Roster
Healthy Roster is a HIPAA compliant electronic medical records system used by the athletic trainers at AHN, and by extension, WJHSD. This system works as an app or a website, depending on your preference, and will allow you to individually access your student-athlete's medical information including physical packets/required paperwork for their sport(s), injury updates, treatments, appointment reminders, direct access to communicate with our athletic trainers, and more. This program is completely HIPAA compliant and no outside entity can access your child's health information. The coaches and athletic director will have limited access — they will only be able to see any injury updates or important memos from the athletic trainer. All PIAA physical paperwork MUST be submitted through Healthy Roster.
 
In order to connect your child's account, you will receive an email invitation with a code sent from Healthy Roster. If you are a new user, please contact Jen McNamara, athletic trainer, at [email protected], and include your child's full name, birth date, and graduation year. She will either create your child's account and send you an invitation to join or send an invitation for an existing child's account. Once you have access, you are able to upload all required paperwork to your child's account and message Jen and Dylan with any questions you may have.

For assistance with Healthy Roster, please go to www.healthyroster.com, click the blue Login button at the top right, and then the Help button on the bottom left, or the blue Question Mark on the bottom right. This will take you to a webpage full of How-to guides and FAQs. You will also be able to reach directly out to Healthy Roster with other questions.

Concussions
At WJHSD, our athletic trainers administer baseline concussion tests to most athletes prior to their first athletic season of the school year. Baseline concussion tests are used to compare results after having been diagnosed with a concussion by a physician, and completing the return to play protocol proscribed. The athletic trainer will then re-administer the concussion test so that the physician can compare results to ensure that your child’s brain function is back to their baseline values, and that they don’t still have functional deficits. The physician will then clear your child if the results are back to your child’s normal levels. The concussion test is NOT a diagnostic tool. If you or your child believe they may have a concussion, please reach out to one of our athletic trainers and they will walk you through the process and what your next steps should be. The teams that are administered baseline tests include, but are not limited to:

Cheer

Football
Wrestling

High School:
Cheer
Football
Boys Soccer
Girls Soccer
Girls Volleyball
Boys Basketball
Girls Basketball
Hockey
Swimming & Diving
Wrestling
Baseball
Softball
Track & Field
Boys Volleyball

Any athlete who participates in a sport not mentioned in the above list is able to have a baseline concussion test upon request. Please reach out to one of our athletic trainers to inquire about having your child tested if desired.

Physicals for 2024-25 Competition
The WJHSD is hosting physicals on May 28, 2024 at PHMS and June 3, 2024 at TJHS. .

If you have any questions, please reach out directly to Jen McNamara, athletic trainer, at [email protected].