Dr. Olivier Materne | Sports Medicine | Excellence in Research

LEVEL OF EDUCATION➢ 🎓

Ph.D. in Sports Medicine. Research in the clinical perspectives of longitudinal changes of growth and maturation in relation with injuries and flexibility in youth male elite soccer players. M.Sc. in Science and Sports Medicine in football rehabilitation. M.Sc. in Physical training and testing.
B.Sc. in Sports physiotherapy.  B.Sc. in Physical education.

SCOPE OF INTEREST ➢ ⚽

By my professional experience and academic background in Sports Medicine and Sports Science, my main interest is always to bridge the complexity between the field, the clinical practice, and the science to continuously contribute to the evolution of Sports Medicine at the elite level. Enthusiastic about football sports medicine and science, I offer a great balance between clinical skills, management, and research. My proactive approach aims to have a positive impact on the player’s injury burden, resilience, and the continuous enhancement of clinical practice, diagnosis, rehabilitation, and injury risk reduction strategies to optimize health and performance. Over the years, working in different countries with various football coaches, I have acquired great communication skills and international experience in sports medicine to apply best practices and create adapted structures for optimal field implementation.

FOOTBALL TEAMS MERITS➢ 🏆

Over the last 20 years, I have contributed to the National long-term player’s development of more than twenty different generations of youth elite Qatari players in Aspire Academy and Qatar National Football Teams, including different football coaching development methodologies. I have covered multiple international tournaments across the world, including 4 Asian cup participations in U-17 & U-19 (2004, 2014, 2016, 2018), 6 Asian qualifiers (2003, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017), one U-20 FIFA World Cup (2019), two UEFA Youth League, and one Women’s champion’s league with Glasgow Rangers. From 2007 till 2019, I was leading the physiotherapy of the youth’s generation of elite Qatari players developed for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Over the last 3 years, I have led a team of 19 physiotherapists, 1 doctor, and 2 masseurs, setting up the strategic pillars of the Sports Medicine department at Glasgow Rangers, including three distinct tailored injury risk reduction strategies for the talented youth male, female, and the women’s first team players to optimize player health and development, performance from the club.

PROFESSIONAL MERITS➢ 🏥

Since June 2023: Sports Medicine consultant for the Academy and women first team of Nottingham Forest (England)
April to July 2023: Worked in collaboration with Jamaica Women National Team to lead the post-surgery rehabilitation of Kayla Jay McKenna aiming for her readiness to perform at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand & Australia within a tight timeframe (14 weeks).
Since September 2021: Member of the European Club Association (ECA) Women’s high performance advisory group.  December 2020 – October 2023: Boys & Girls Academy and Women 1st Team Medical Service Manager at Rangers Football Club (Scotland). Developed and implemented the six pillars of the Academy and Women 1st Team Sports Medicine, including an age and gender-tailored approach to injury risk reduction mitigation strategy. September 2019-August 2020: Senior physiotherapist & scientific researcher in ASPREV & NSMP at ASPETAR. Responsible for data quality control/cleaning from the Star League and part of the IP2 Editors. 2017-August 2019: Senior physiotherapist (QFA-ASPETAR) of the Qatar U-19 National team. Worked full-time focusing only on the remaining youth players concerned by the 2022 World Cup (U-19; U-20, U-21).  2010-2016: Senior physiotherapist at Aspire Academy and Qatar Football Association (ASPETAR). Led the screening, prevention, rehabilitation, and injury risk strategies to optimize the football development of this generation in regard to being injury-free (acute-chronic).  2007-2016: Promoted to Football Senior sports physiotherapist at Aspire Academy (for Sports Excellence), in charge of the youth soccer section; physiotherapist for the Qatar Football Association, (U19-U18 and U17-U16 National teams) – Doha, Qatar. 2007- 2014: Senior sports physiotherapist at Aspire Academy, leading the physiotherapy and musculoskeletal screening of the football Dream Project and the awarded scholarships players. September 2004 to December 2006: Sports physiotherapist officer at ASPIRE Academy (for Sports Excellence) and Qatar National Association, youth soccer development section – Doha, Qatar. May 2003 to October 2004: Strength and conditioning coach at Qatar Football Association (Youth national team, U-20, Olympic and first national team) – Doha, Qatar. October 2001 to April 2003: Physiotherapist & strength and conditioning Coach at the Qatar Athletic Federation – Doha, Qatar. Pre-Season 2001-2002: Strength and conditioning coach at Excelsior Mouscron, 1st national league – Belgium.  July 2000 to September 2001: Sport physiotherapist and strength & conditioning at CREPS, private sports medical and performance enhancement center – La Louvière, Belgium. Season 2000-2001: Strength and conditioning Coach at R.C.S. Visé, 3rd national league, vice-champion, promoted to 2nd national league – Belgium.

EDUCATIONAL MERITS➢ 🎓

2015-2021 PhD Sports medicine Edge Hill University – Ormskirk, England. Youth Elite soccer development, thesis title: Epidemiology, Flexibility, Growth and Maturation in Youth Elite Soccer: Prospective Research Leading to Clinical Perspectives in Paediatric Sports Medicine.
June 2014 Awarded of postgraduate certificate in research. Edge Hill University – Ormskirk, England. 2011-2013 MSc Sport science and medicine in football rehabilitation (Distinction) – Edge Hill University – Ormskirk, England. (Thesis title: Injury incidence and relationship with somatic maturity in a youth elite Qatari soccer academy). 2000-2001 MSc Evaluation and physical training (Distinction) – Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, Victor Segalen University – Bordeaux, France. (Thesis title: Evaluation and training development methodology by Optojump and Musclab system to enhance the short sprinting distance in soccer players).  June 2000 BSc Sport Physiotherapy (Distinction) – André Vesal High School – Liege, Belgium. (Thesis title: Observation and analysis of the 10 meters sprint in professional and amateur soccer players with Optojump system). June 1997 BSc Physical Education and Sport (Distinction) – André Vesal High School – Liege, Belgium. (Thesis title: A preliminary study of specific physical preparation for professional rally car racing pilot).

2020 Safeguarding children certificate. Certificate number: T-2091489-2184181. 2020 CITI program course: Biomedical Research – Basic/Refresher (ID:38416182).  2020 Workshop and tutorial on R-software (data management, visualization, and meta-analysis) Doha, Qatar.
2017 Statistics in Sports Medicine and SPSS software, Doha-Qatar.  2017 FIFA Diploma in Football Medicine (online course by F-Marc).
2017 Basic life support, AED & first aid, European resuscitation council (updated every 2 years since 2009) Doha, Qatar. 2016 IOC advanced team physician course, Cape Town, South Africa. 2016 1ST AFC Team physiotherapy course, Doha, Qatar. 2016 Awarded recognized reviewer by Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 2015 Foam roll training course, Doha, Qatar. 2014 Suspension training course – by TRX instructor, Doha, Qatar.
2014 SoccerLab software training for injury/medical records, Doha