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The Action Sports Medicine Foundation

The Action Sports Medicine Foundation is a 501(c) 3 non-profit foundation whose mission is to enhance the quality and availability of sports medicine to athletes participating in action sports. The foundation was formed in 2003, and is based in Jacksonville, Florida.

Our goal is to provide a reliable and valid resource for athletes looking to receive sports medicine services, and for the various health care workers interested in providing these services. We will primarily focus our efforts on athletes competing in the sports of motocross, BMX, mountain biking, skateboarding, wakeboarding, and surfing. We believe that quality sports medicine is essential to enable these athletes to continue to compete in their sports, and as our foundation develops, we hope to become a major contributor to the enhancement of sports medicine in the action sports community.

The ASMF Vision

We have outlined seven specific activities that our organization will perform. These activities will form the core of operations for our foundation, and ultimately enable us to reach the goals outlined above.

1. Provide on-site sports medicine coverage to athletes participating in various events. The intent here is to provide a training room atmosphere at athletic events that is similar in scope to what one would see at a more traditional sporting event. This would involve having a physician, physical therapist and athletic trainer staffed to provide medical coverage at competitions. The physician would be able to assess and diagnose the more serious injuries, and determine the athlete's capabilities to return to play. The physical therapist and athletic trainer are also able to assess musculoskeletal injuries, and provide the appropriate treatment modalities.

In addition, they are able to apply various taping, wrapping, and splinting techniques to support an injured joint, thus enabling an athlete to compete where he or she may otherwise be unable to.

Ultimately, the provision of this service will enable the athlete to receive quality preemptive care to diminish the severity or likelihood that an injury will occur, and thorough, professional immediate care and follow-up if an injury is sustained.
2. Provide a forum for education in sports medicine to health care professionals and the public. One of the main reasons we developed this foundation was the lack of interest in action sports from the general sports medicine community. With this lack of interest, you get a lack of understanding. We understand that the demands of action sports are unique, as are the athletes who compete in them. As such, we plan to take what we learn in working with these athletes, and educate other sports medicine professionals. For example, is there a specific injury in motocross that is more prevalent than others? If so, why does it happen, and what is the best way to prevent the injury and/or rehabilitate it. This will vary by sport, and is critical to understand if we are to progress the athlete's fitness and ability to compete.
3. Present conferences on sports medicine topics related to action sports. One of the reasons we developed this organization, was because of our passion for learning, and then educating others. One of Dr. Augustine's goals is to organize and present an action sports medicine symposium where physicians, trainers, physical therapists and strength coaches who work in these sports can convene to learn from one another and share information and techniques that they have learned . This could become an annual event, thus enabling a consistent flow of valid information to all health care practitioners who work with these special athletes.
4. Develop original research projects. Currently there is a lack of information in the journals regarding action sports. Scientists have long focused their research efforts on the traditional sports, leaving little in the way of scientific evidence on the new wave of alternative sports. We expect that this foundation will enable us to conduct numerous research projects and case studies on a number of different topics in a variety of action sports. The production of these projects will provide invaluable scientific data for sports medicine professionals working with action sport athletes. In the end, the athlete will benefit tremendously as the various techniques used to treat an athlete's injury or enhance performance will be based on scientific fact and not merely conjecture.
5. Educate athletes on the most appropriate means of injury prevention, rehabilitation and conditioning. Everything that we practice and learn will be channeled back to the athlete to enable him or her to compete in their sport at the healthiest level possible. We can achieve this by presenting formal injury clinics to the athletes. This web site will also contain information on training and injury prevention which will be updated on a regular basis. Our doctors and trainers will also be available at the events we cover to answer any questions the athletes may have.
6. Foster the development of amateur action sports by coordinating and sponsoring events. Our desire is to see action sports continue to grow and develop on many different levels. To achieve this, we plan to coordinate with local tracks, skateboard parks and other organizations to stage competitions in the various action sports.
7. Provide college scholarships to achieving student athletes. Since education is important to our foundation, we would like to see the athletes we serve demonstrate an interest in higher learning as well. We plan to set aside a fund that can be earned by an amateur athlete who has the skills and desire to continue his or her education at the collegiate level. The intent here is to provide incentive for these young athletes to learn, and achieve a high level of proficiency in the classroom.

Board of Directors

Dr. Stephen J. Augustine, President and Founder

Dr. Augustine currently resides with his wife Mindy and sons Carson and Colton in Jacksonville, Florida. He was an Assistant Professor of Orthopedics for The University of Florida for 6 years acting as the Chief of the sports medicine division. He now works at The Jacksonville Orthopedic Institute Riverside Division in association with St. Vincent’s Hospital. He grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and in 1990 completed his undergraduate work at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He then earned his medical degree from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. He performed an internship at Presbyterian St. Lukes Hospital in Denver, Colorado in 1995 and from there he headed back east to complete and orthopedic surgery residency at The Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He decided to sub-specialize and traveled south to the Hughston Clinic in Columbus, Georgia to perform two fellowships there, one in sports medicine/arthroscopy and one in shoulder reconstruction. He works as the physician advisor to the Road 2 Recovery Foundation and has been providing medical coverage for the AMA Supercross and Motocross series since 2001. He is also a founding member of the AMA medical advisory board. He enjoys participating in all action sports particularly motocross, as well as jet skis, wake boards, snow boards and mountain bikes. He is actively involved in sports medicine research and has presented lectures at national meetings. He enjoys working with action sports athletes and getting them back into competition.

Mindy Augustine, Executive Director

Mindy currently resides with her husband Steve Augustine (president of ASMF), and their two sons Carson and Colton, in Jacksonville Beach, FL. She graduated from Marshall University with a BS in Biology and a minor in Marketing. Mindy first started with the foundation after the birth of their first son. She was a distributor for Depuy Spine but decided that her time was best spent with their son Carson and helping with ASMF, which was Steve's passion and soon became hers. Over the years, she has taken on responsibilities that involve organizing the day to day operations, marketing and fundraising.

Christine Chmielewski

Christine Chmielewski is a Certified Athletic Trainer. Christine graduated from the University of North Florida with a B.S. degree in Health Science/Sports Medicine & Athletic Training in 1999. Christine joined Dr. Augustine and the foundation in October of 2004. Christine has been treating athletes at action sports events such as motocross, skateboarding, BMX, wakeboarding and surfing since joining the foundation. She is also a medical staff athletic trainer for the ASPT Dew Tour, The Action Sports Pro Tour. Over the years, Christine has served as an athletic trainer at the high school collegiate, and professional levels. This broad background and experience is utilized by providing exceptional care to action sports athletes everywhere.

Todd Furman, Director of Rehabilitation

Todd was born and raised in California. He graduated from Sonoma State University in 1987 with a degree in economics and management. He moved to Florida and in 1994 graduated from the University of Florida in Gainesville with a bachelor of science degree in physical therapy. Since then he has attained certification as an athletic trainer and strength and conditioning specialist. Todd presently resides in St. Augustine, Florida with his wife Gemma. He works in a sports medicine clinic for Jacksonville Orthopaedic Institute Rehabilitation in Jacksonville, Florida. Todd has been, and continues to be, an active participant in the sports of skateboarding, BMX and motocross.

Randy Fulford, PA-C

Randy was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida where he has lived all but two years of his adult life. He currently resides with wife Joy and the frequent comings and goings of grown children and young grandchildren.

He started with Jacksonville Fire and Rescue in 1975 and retired as firefighter paramedic in 1994. He Attended PA school at the medical college of Georgia from 1994-1996, graduated with a bachelors of health in PA studies. He began his PA career in occupational medicine. Since that time, he has spent numerous years in emergency medicine, trauma, and orthopedics surgery. He has worked side by side with Dr. Augustine in surgery, clinic and covering action sports events for 8 years.

Jarod Root, Director of Wake Tour

Mr. Root is Board Certified as an Orthopedic Physician Assistant and a state licensed Athletic Trainer. In addition to assisting the ASMF physicians with patient care, Mr. Root works closely with the athletes of the Prowake Tour. Mr. Root received his Bachelors of Science with a specialization in Athletic Training from Howard Payne University in 2003. While working with ASMF, Mr. Root has worked at Children's Medical Center of Dallas where he was recognized on NBC 5 and in the Dallas Morning News for his work with victims from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as receiving awards for his work performed there. He has been on numerous panel discussions on the topic of "The Usage of Athletic Trainers as Physician Extenders." He acts as the athletic trainer for several professional athletes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area who participate in action sports such as motocross, wakeboarding, BMX riding, and skateboarding. Mr. Root has appeared in Wakeboarding Magazine, FUEL TV, NBC 5 and other numerous action sports publications.