Glacier Surgical Associates to host second annual free sports physical event for middle and high school students

PALMER — Valley students are invited once again to get free sports physicals July 11 in thanks to Glacier Surgical Associates and its partner Pioneer Peak Orthopedics.

“We want them to have the opportunity to play. And if that’s one piece that we can take care of, we are happy to do that,” Glacier Surgical Associates owner and surgeon Dr. Shannon Gulley said.

Gulley started this event last year to give back to the community by helping local sports parents since most insurance doesn’t cover sports physicals and the costs can add up, especially with bigger families.

“We don’t want that to be the reason why they can’t play sports,” Glacier Surgical Associates staff member Chelsey Sandidge said.

Gulley moved to Palmer five years ago. She said that she carried this tradition of giving back to the community from her former practice in Montana.

“When I got here and I was getting to get my kid’s sport physical done, I realized nobody really offered that here. So I sort of wanted to recreate it best I could,” Gulley said.

Gulley teamed up with Dr. Mike Montano from Pioneer Peak Orthopedics for the first event. She said he thought it was a great idea to help perform the physicals.

“He’s orthopedic surgeon so his specialty’s sports. So he was a good fit,” Gulley said.

Gulley said that she was amazed by the number of kids that came through the first event and she was thankful for the community’s generosity. They saw nearly 150 children from across the Valley. She said there was a line wrapped around the building before the event even started.

“I was amazed,” Gulley said.

This event serves dual purposes, the free sports physicals and collecting donations for a local charity. Last year, they collected nearly 600 pounds of food for the Mat-Su Food Bank. This year, they are collecting nonperishable food items for the Kids Kupboard.

“We’ll get some kids some physicals and we’ll get a bunch of food for people who are trying to do some good stuff across the Valley,” Gulley said.

This year, they’re partnering with Pioneer Peak Orthopedics again. This time Dr. Montano and Dr. Greg Strohmeyer will perform physicals alongside Gulley.

She said this is their annual tradition and each year they will select a different nonprofit.

“We’ll plan on doing it every year, as long as there’s still a need,” Gulley said.

Gulley said that she would like to see this event grow over the years, with more community involvement to reach more kids entering sports in middle and high school. She advocated for all the benefits children reap from athletic endeavors.

“I think it molds them into who they are as people. I think it teaches them to win and lose and work hard, be on a team. There’s so many valuable things I think kids get from playing sports,” Gulley said.

The event is at the Glacier Surgical Associates office in downtown Palmer, across the street from the Mat-Su Borough building. It runs on July 11 from 2 to 7 p.m. For more information, call 907-746-1520

“From my standpoint, as long as they’re in line by 7, we can get them done,” Gulley said.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com