Marita, the physio

Late last month, former West Indies Women’s physiotherapist, Marita Marshall was kind enough to speak with me concerning the physical aspect of the gentleman’s game and sports in general. The Barbadian—who is the owner of her own physiotherapy practice, Physiotherapy & Optimal Performance Services (POPS), and co-founder of The Health & Wellness Physios Inc—has seven years of clinical practice under her belt. In our hour-long Zoom call, she broke down who exactly physiotherapists are, touched on topics from T20 cricket to pink-ball cricket, the huge risks associated with fast-bowling in stark contrast to spin bowling, injuries, treatments, recoveries, etc. Buckle up.

When did you know you wanted to pursue a career in Physiotherapy?

Well, I wanted to study medicine initially and then I changed my mind from that. I knew a bit about physio from sports and I did some research into the requirements and started volunteer hours [after secondary school] at the hospital here in Barbados. After I did those volunteer hours, that was when I really decided that this was something I really wanted to do.

And your educational choices on your way to that dream?

I spent a year at UWI Cave Hill and then I transferred to [UWI] Mona in Jamaica where I did my undergraduate degree in Physical Therapy. I then returned home [to Barbados] and worked for two years and then I left for Scotland for a year to do my masters in sports medicine.