SHARP: Helping athletes return to action
Posted: September 3, 2025
When an athlete suffers a significant injury or surgery, they face a long road to recovery before returning to competition.
The Sanford Health Athletic Readiness Program (SHARP) is a program that combines sports physical therapy and strength and conditioning. It’s designed to help athletes return to action following an injury or surgery. It’s a coordinated and collaborative bridge of care.
Athletes work with a certified athletic trainer or physical therapist and a strength and conditioning coach to put together a recovery plan specific to the injury, the sport they play and any goals they want to accomplish. This program works on functional rehabilitation and performance training, which helps prepare athletes to compete again.
Bridging the gap
A recovery timetable starts with rehabilitation and slowly builds toward being in game shape. SHARP helps by easing the athlete back into a light workload.
Team effort
SHARP is a link between physical therapy and sports performance training services. The program guides athletes through physical therapy while integrating training. Returning them to their full movement potential requires rehabbing their injury and developing any adaptations they may need for strength, power, range of motion or cardiovascular output.
To learn more about SHARP and other therapy services visit our sports physical therapy & rehab page.
