Collision sports injury conference | 10 October 2025
Overview
In partnership with:
This conference is designed to stimulate clinical thinking and deepen expertise in the management of athletes with complex injuries resulting from high-energy collision sports. The focus is on advancing tailored, multidisciplinary care to optimise outcomes and support safe, effective return-to-play pathways.
Through interactive sessions, open dialogue, and shared clinical experiences, attendees will engage with leading national and international experts presenting the latest insights on current practices, emerging research, and evolving treatment strategies. Delegates are encouraged to bring challenging or controversial cases for collaborative group discussion and analysis.
Educational aims:
- To provide a focused educational forum addressing the unique clinical challenges associated with managing injuries in professional collision sport athletes.
- To enhance interdisciplinary collaboration between sports physicians, physiotherapists, surgeons, and team clinicians to promote optimal treatment outcomes.
- To share evidence-based and experience-driven strategies from international centres of excellence in managing injuries specific to high-energy contact sports.
- To align clinical decision-making with the performance and recovery goals of athletes, teams, and stakeholders within the high-demand environment of professional collision sports.
Learning objectives:
By the end of the meeting, participants will be able to:
- Differentiate the injury profiles and management needs of collision sport athletes compared to those from non-contact or low-energy sports.
- Identify common injury patterns in collision athletes—such as complex shoulder instability—and evaluate appropriate management strategies, including surgical indications.
- Apply athlete-specific, outcome-focused treatment approaches that consider both clinical best practices and the performance demands of professional sport.
- Develop safe and effective rehabilitation protocols aimed at early return to contact while minimizing recurrence and long-term complications.
- Understand the implications of delayed return to sport, including financial and team-based consequences, and integrate these into treatment planning.
- Facilitate multidisciplinary collaboration and communication among team clinicians, physiotherapists, and surgeons to align on recovery goals.
- Gain insights from international experts and institutions (e.g. Cleveland Clinic) to benchmark best-in-class outcomes and adopt high-quality, outcome-based care models.
- Build networks among clinicians with a sub-specialist interest in contact sports medicine for ongoing knowledge exchange and support.
Programme
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99 spaces remainingCollision sports injury conference | 10 October 2025
Convenors:
Mr Philip Ahrens
Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon, Royal Free Hospital
Mr Philip Ahrens qualified from Charing Cross and Westminster medical school in 1992. His postgraduate orthopaedic training was in London, and undertook a fellowship in shoulder surgery in Nice, France.
He was appointed Consultant to the Royal Free Hospital Hampstead in 2003. His specialist interests are in shoulder and elbow arthroscopy, sports injury and joint replacement.
He is active in both research and training and is the lead investigator in multicentre clinical trials. He has held a number of leadership roles locally and nationally in management, research and digital development.
He is a member of the British Orthopaedic Association, The British Elbow and Shoulder Society, and is a founder member of the Watanabe Club.
Mr Toby Colegate-Stone
Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon, King's College London
Mr Toby Colegate-Stone is a Consultant Orthopaedic Shoulder, Elbow & Sports Trauma surgeon. He specialises in: Arthroscopic (keyhole) surgery; Sports Injuries & Fractures; Non-interventional treatment strategies; Shoulder Instability & Dislocation surgery; Rotator Cuff shoulder repair; Shoulder Arthritis & replacement surgery.
Mr Colegate-Stone studied medicine at Oxford University and completed his clinical studies at University College London (UCL) before being appointed onto the London Orthopaedic training rotation.
He undertook two recognised sub-specialist fellowship trainings. The first at the internationally renowned Cape Shoulder Institute (Cape Town, University of Stellenbosch) and the second at King’s College Hospital where he is now a consultant and Clinical Lead.