Plainfield High School made history recently by becoming the first high school in Indiana to open a dedicated Recovery Room for its athletes. Thanks to a generous donation from the VanDevender Family, the PHS Recovery Room is already in use by PHS athletes with a larger celebration to come in the future.
The PHS Recovery Room is equipped with a range of world-class equipment and devices that are often found in both professional and elite college settings and are geared to help athletes reduce swelling and inflammation, improve circulation, and speed up recovery time. Heat and ice compression sleeves for the upper/lower extremities and spine, massage and soft tissue augmentation devices, embroidered theater lounge chairs, and meditation devices are all meant to position athletes for optimal performance, physically and mentally. These devices are used by professional athletes all over the world, and now the student athletes at Plainfield High School can benefit from them too. By using these tools to optimize their recovery, PHS student athletes will be able to perform better on the field, court, or track, and ultimately achieve their goals.
This exciting addition to PHS will also provide a centrally located respite for student athletes to gather and both focus on mental recovery and to socialize with their teammate and peers. Between the comfortable reclining seats, quiet space, and calm environment, students can work on mindfulness exercises while healing their physical body all while in the comfort of their school.
The Recovery Room has been donated to the Plainfield community by Jeremy VanDevender, a long-term Physical Therapist and sports medicine specialist and 1994 graduate of PHS. Said Mr. VanDevender, “I made this donation to share my passion for sports medicine and recovery with the PHS student body with the hope we can positively impact generations of PHS students and raise awareness for recovery. Playing basketball at PHS was a wonderful experience for me, but we didn’t have anything like this available for athletes when I played. I really wanted to create an experience for the athletes at PHS that mimics a professional experience and through my relationships and experiences in the industry over a 25 year period, I was able to make this dream a reality.”
Further, Mr. VanDevender shared, “I decided to be a PT in 1992 at a career fair in high school and from the moment I learned about the PT profession, I never looked back. I have experienced a wonderfully fulfilling career in the PT industry that has allowed me to make this gift.” Beyond the gift of the PHS Recovery Room, Jeremy has created a multi-year scholarship for PHS students who have demonstrated incredible resilience to overcome challenging life circumstances to attend a four-year college of their choice. As Jeremy states, “It is all about giving back and helping kids who are in need of a new start to achieve their goals and maximum potential, it has been amazing to reconnect with the PHS administration to provide these gifts over the past year and I really look forward to continuing to work closely with PHS to support the community for years to come. I believe strongly that finding balance and a place to reflect and have insight into the body and mental performance are critically important to success in sports and life. Competition is a long-term pursuit as is excellence and you do not get there in a straight line. Embracing mental wellness and focus will create better students, better competitive athletes, and most importantly, better people.”
This donation is also an important step forward for the broader high school sports community in Indiana. By showcasing the benefits of cutting-edge recovery technology, the goal is to raise awareness of the importance of recovery, preventing injury, and encouraging other schools to invest in similar facilities. This could help to reduce the risk of injuries and improve the performance of student athletes across the state, ultimately creating a safer and more competitive environment for high school sports.
By providing students with access to the latest recovery technology, the Plainfield High School is helping them to perform at their best, and sending a clear message that their health and wellbeing is a top priority. As other schools in the state follow in Plainfield's footsteps, we can look forward to a brighter future for high school sports in Indiana.