Griffin Pritchard

On Thursday night, beginning at 5:30 p.m., athletes from across Butler County will have the opportunity to take their yearly physical. The examinations will be held at Greenville High School and will be free to the public. The event is sponsored by Rehab Associates in Greenville and will have the support of several doctors and nurses throughout the area, according to Jason Peavy of Rehab Associates.

"We're going to have several local doctors who are volunteering their time," said Peavy. "We are going to have several physical therapists as well as athletic trainers there volunteering their time."

This is the second time, this service has been offered to the county's athletes.

"It's a very comprehensive exam, where we check their eyes, their weight and blood pressure," said Peavy. "We do a thorough orthopedic screening and then we have a general medicine practitioner take them in an examination room and give them a medical exam. Then we sign off on their physicals."

The physicals will be good for one calendar year.

"Since we are doing them now, it's a good time because it will cover all the sports for next year," said Peavy.

Peavy hopes that this year will be different than last's attempt at county-wide physicals.

"Last year, it was kind of thrown together and I think we did it at a bad time," said Peavy. "We had a big turnout from Greenville High School, but really no one else. This year, I think we will have a big turnout because the middle schools are going to come."

The Physicals themselves are not only for varsity athletes but for junior high athletes as well as children going into the junior high who plan to play some type of sports.

The physicals are going to be for both male and female athletes.

Everyone, regardless of athletic association or not should have a yearly physical, Peavy pointed out.

"It is very important to have a physical," said Peavy. "It's a way to pick up on subtle things that you may or may not know are going on within the body. It's also a way to pick up on things that could prove to be catastrophic, such as heart conditions or things like that."

If anyone has any questions about getting physicals, call Jason at Rehab Associates, 382-5308.