Jason for AMTA (1)EVANSTON, Ill. — The American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) is proud to announce a new partnership with Team Roger C. Peace to co-sponsor the para-cycling team and fund the gathering of data on the impact massage therapy has on the conditioning and performance of these professional athletes.  

AMTA’s name and logo will be prominently displayed by the athletes as they compete, and massage therapy will be closely associated with their training and conditioning in this first-of-a-kind study.

“We are excited about our partnership with Team Roger C. Peace and what it can mean both for the support of this competitive para-cycling team and for the massage therapy research data that will be gathered as they train and race,” AMTA President Nancy M. Porambo said. “This will help shed new light on the efficacy of massage therapy for elite athletes.”

The team includes amputees, paraplegics, quadriplegics and a cyclist with traumatic brain injury. These 11 highly motivated athletes are working toward competing in the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As they train and compete throughout 2015, they will receive regular massage from massage therapists, and data will be gathered on the effects of massage therapy on their physical performance.

Working with the Greenville, South Carolina, Health System’s Human Performance Lab (HPL), Team Roger C. Peace athletes will participate in clinical research designed to:

  • Improve the quality of life for other individuals with spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries and amputations.
  • Enhance the education of medical students, providing direct access to studying the unique population of elite‐level para-cyclists.

“This information will be documented in data collection for AMTA of the effects of massage on sports performance with disabled athletes and is a key piece in our research into how to positively affect athletes’ performances through the consistent and medical application of the best practices in massage therapy,” Jerry Page, Team RCP manager, said.

As the only independent team competing on a global para-cycling schedule, the 12-member squad was organized as a partnership between the Greenville Cycling Center and Roger C. Peace Rehabilitation Hospital, part of the Greenville Health System. Athletes will compete in more than 90 events this season in preparation for the Para-Cycling World Championships in 2015 and the Paralympics in Brazil in 2016.

About Roger C. Peace

Roger C. Peace Rehabilitation Hospital has three goals: To provide the latest rehabilitative and technological services with compassion and encouragement, to help motivate patients and to assist them in re-entering the community as smoothly and as quickly as possible. Roger C. Peace is the only facility in South Carolina approved by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities.

About AMTA

The American Massage Therapy Association is the largest nonprofit, professional association for massage therapists in North America. It is directed by volunteer leadership and fosters ongoing, direct member-involvement through its 51 chapters. AMTA works to advance the profession through ethics and standards, the promotion of fair and consistent licensing of massage therapists in all states, and public education on the benefits of massage.