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BY DOUG PAPE DPAPE@LEADER.NET
Tuesday, January 25, 2000 Page: 1C
You would think John Quinn has seen everything in 27 seasons coaching
basketball at Coughlin High School. But when Paul Vecerkauskas came to
practice wearing something peculiar below his knee, the Crusader mentor was
perplexed. “I had no clue,” Quinn said. “It’s really weird looking. I asked
him if it was a garter, he looked at me like I was nuts.” Not to worry coach,
it’s just a Cho-pat. The Cho-pat Knee Strap, named after the company that
makes the device, is a brace designed to reduce certain knee problems.
Basketball players wear them because of the stress endured from fast stops,
starts and jumping. Cho-pats retail for $15 to $20 at sporting goods stores
such as Dick’s in Wilkes-Barre Township. Other companies make similar
products.
Mark Lombardi, a physical therapist and president of the Sports Injury
Treatment Center of Northeastern Pennsylvania, said Cho-pats, which have a
piece of rubber tubing in the middle, reduce the discomfort associated with
patella tendinitis or jumper’s knee, and some minor knee injuries. “They
provide a little bit of pressure,” Lombardi said. “If you give compression
to that tendon you can make it more comfortable.” The device also treats
Osgood Schlatter’s disease, which affects a soft area in the bone that
attaches to the knee. Vecerkauskas had orthroscopic surgery to repair knee
cartilage a year ago. He started wearing the brace in October. “I don’t know
if that (surgery) added to the problem,” he said, “but it hurt pretty bad in
October and all through the summer. It just started getting real sore in the
front of my knee.” Coughlin trainer Robin Marichak, who makes similar devices
using tape, recommended the Cho-pat. “I didn’t want to wear it at first
because it looked stupid,” Vecerkauskas said. “It looked like a rubber
stocking on my leg.” Vecerkauskas’ knee improved and he will wear the band
the rest of his career. Bill Brown, a GAR Memorial High School basketball
player, switched to a knee band similar to a Cho-pat from a bulky brace for
comfort. “It actually works a lot better,” he said. “It supports my knee
and, after a couple minutes with it on, you forget about it. Besides support,
knee bands provide a psychological boost. “It’s more of a reminder,” said
Rob Hartman, a therapist at Advanced Physical Therapy in Plains Township. “A
lot of the neoprene stuff is just to say you have something there.”
Call Pape at 829-7227.