Healing People with Quality Products | Rick L. Schaly | Trainers Choice Inc.

Trainers Choice is a Canadian family-owned sports medicine brand with a 30-year legacy of quality and innovation in the sports medicine field. It began with the vision of an industry veteran who founded a chain of award-winning rehabilitation clinics whose products reflect a unique and synergistic collaboration among healthcare professionals. Since being founded in 1990, Trainers Choice has grown to become Canada’s largest Sports Medicine Product Supplier, and the #1 brace in Canadian mass market pharmacy.

Trainers Choice’s exclusive range of products, including its range of Brace and Support solutions, has been meticulously designed and rigorously tested in these clinics with the goal of alleviating pain and discomfort and empowering patients to resume their active lives and pursue their passions.

Beyond the commitment to quality, their innovative edge—utilizing premium materials and cutting-edge technologies like Kinetic Paneling, Compression and Thermal Therapy—truly sets them apart, promising unparalleled support and healing.

Now, Trainers Choice is introducing sustainable design practices with natural-based alternative materials that are better for the planet.

These products have been designed by a team of skilled sports medicine health professionals, including doctors, surgeons, athletic therapists and physiotherapists. They have also been developed and thoroughly tested in clinical settings to ensure function, support, and effectiveness.

Finding solutions for active recovery is essential for athletes and active individuals to maintain their physical health and well-being. Rick L. Schaly, President of Trainers Choice Inc., has a deep passion for aiding individuals’ recovery and keeping them active. This dedication to improving people’s lives has been a perennial source of motivation and inspiration for him to take the company to new heights.

A True Visionary

Rick has been hailed as a visionary due to his commitment to continually developing a robust roadmap for growth and transformation for the company and the team members within. He has ensured that Trainers Choice remains at the cutting edge by continually aligning the company’s product offerings with the latest technological and material advancements in the sports medicine realm.

“Our commitment to leveraging the finest resources and innovative approaches provides customers with elite, unparalleled quality in every product, facilitating their journeys toward recovery and sustained active living with exceptional support,” says Rick.

With a deep-rooted passion for sports and a lifelong love for hockey, Rick brings a unique skill set to the organization, encompassing his experience as both an athlete and a coachplus his extensive knowledge in high performance training and sport injury care. He continues to be engaged in coaching and his Medical Director roles within the sports community.

Rick grew up in a small town in Ontario, playing minor hockey as a goaltender for the local Barrie AAA organization and later for the Barrie Colts Junior B team. After his playing career, he went on to achieve the highest Level 6 Referee status in the Ontario Hockey League, which allowed him to participate in several international assignments through Hockey Canada, including Canada versus Russia. In addition, he has several years of experience coaching the highest levels of hockey in the OMHA and GTHL organizations. He remains the Director of Development for the North Central Predator AAA hockey organization.

Concurrently, Rick is the High-Performance Director for the Barrie Colts OHL Team, and the Medical Director for the Simcoe County Rover Soccer Club and the Barrie Baycats Baseball Team. “I’m excited to stay involved locally. I love this community and want it to flourish as a sporting destination,” adds Rick, who earned his Certified Athletic Therapist (CAT(C)) at Sheridan College. He also maintains his certification in Complete Concussion Management.

Being Open & Creative Fosters Innovation

With a wealth of experience in the sports medicine industry, Rick aims to foster a work culture of continuous learning and innovation by encouraging his team to have open and creative communication. One pivotal element has been the weekly team meetings where staff share ideas, experiences and problem-solving strategies to expand their collective knowledge. According to Rick this encourages innovation and helps each team member be more productive in reaching their targets.

By building a workplace where staff can learn and grow together, the Trainers Choice team can benefit from each other’s skill sets, optimize overall productivity, and address potential issues so that the company can reach new pinnacles of success and innovation in sports medicine and orthopedic braces.

“But success wasn’t achieved overnight. It took years of meticulous research, testing, focus groups, input from clinic owners and client feedback along with persistent efforts to carve out our niche in the sports medicine bracing industry,” explains Rick. “My advice to others on this journey would be to remain steadfast in the face of challenges and stay true to your vision.”

A Move Towards a Sustainable Future

Trainers Choice aims to grow its distribution into the European market using both new designs and more sustainable materials. “To continue to reduce our environmental impact, we are moving toward the use of sustainable materials to do our part in making our world a better place to live,” elucidates Rick. “We want to improve our customers’ health and well-being while contributing to improving the health of the planet one step at a time.”

Trainers Choice will therefore be the first sports medicine company to launch a brace and support line using sustainable materials like the innovative Geo-cell Material, a powerful natural fibre that moves and breathes in sync with the body for comfort and confidence. Geo-cell Material is tapped from hevea trees that can produce rubber for up to 30 years, replacing conventional nonrenewable neoprene. In addition, the heveaplantations have been certified to comply with the highest sustainable forest management practices standards.

“Trainers Choice is dedicated to creating products ethically and with transparency,” says Rick. “We now want to launch into new markets with a focus on sustainability. We want to bridge the gap between functional products and the environment.”

Trainers Choice will be featured this fall at the International Sporting Good Show as a leader in sustainability and innovation. At the show, featured product materials will compete for the prestigious International Innovation Award. Combining sustainability and supportive function gives Trainers Choice a formidable combination as it aims to expand into the global market while being an industry trailblazer in Canada.