Andy GunsaullusResearch Methods Intro

Who is this guy?

Ironman Arizona 2012

Superior 100 Mile Trail Race

Olympic Pool, Montreal

Coaching my youngest son

Most recent research paper

• The most recent actual research paper I wrote was in my undergrad, a very long time ago. I’m sure it’s all very fascinating for everyone here too! It was on Environmental Economics and looking at the ways in which we can literally put a price on different levels of pollution, emissions and impact that companies have on the environment.

Current Research InterestsHaven’t made up my mind…

Long Term Athletic Development and Year-

Round Sport Participation

Prevalence and Prevention of

Femoroacetabular Impingement in Ice-

Hockey Goalies

Effect of Acute Focal Femoral Hypoplasia in

Youth Athletes

LTAD and Year-Round Sport

• Here in MN, ice-hockey is a way of life. Youth are often playing hockey on the ice year round with very few breaks. As a coach and father, I’m guilty of this as well, with my son just having finished up “Summer AAA hockey”, taking a 4 week break then he’s back on the ice in September. I’m interested in the difference between development issues relating to single sport specialization versus year-round participation, but alongside other sports as well. Can year-round participation be ok, if the athlete is a multisport participant?

Femoroacetabular Impingement

• FAI for short, is a condition related to overuse of the hip joint, especially in an externally rotated, abducted and loaded position. This is a position ice hockey goalies find themselves in quite often in the current style of play, and the numbers of goalies with FAI is alarming. However, some research has shown that by the numbers, ice hockey participants, regardless of position, have high incidences of this problem. As a former collegiate goalie, a professional goalie coach and father of an upcoming goalie, this is an area of great concern to me.

Focal Femoral Hypoplasia in Youth Athletes

• Fancy words essentially for instances where one femur is congenitally shorter than the other. My youngest, who is an avid athlete, has one femur that is 2.5cm shorter than the other. The length discrepancy will get larger as he reaches full growth, and eventually he will have surgery to correct the length discrepancy. He’s lucky though, this issue can and often is much worse. As an athlete, I’m curious how this issue affects his development and gait. As seen in the x-ray on the right, there is a pronounced lateral pelvic tilt as a result of the limb length discrepancy.

Presentation ExperienceAs a USA Hockey Level IV coach, each season I assist in the Level 1-3 coaching education courses, specifically talking about youth goalie development and how to actively involve goaltenders in practice. I also often present to associations on how to build interest in the position and find the right kids and the right numbers to be goalies.

Expectations From This Course

• I’m hoping to gain a foundation for understanding how research is conducted and presented. Further, I look forward to having a more critical eye for assessing others’ research and articles.

As winter approaches, I’ll be wishing my wife and I were back in Hawaii…

Thanks for getting this far!