TCO Training HAUS physical therapist traveling to Paris with U.S. Men's Soccer Team
EAGAN, Minn. — You can usually find Mike Shirilla at the Twin Cities Orthopedic Training Haus in Eagan, working with soccer players in rehab from injuries.
"I really try to see all soccer injuries from ankle sprains to hip impingement pain, to hamstring strains, so anything like that's non-surgical and surgical," said Shirilla.
Next month, however, he's taking his talents to the Paris Olympics to work with the U23 US Men's National Soccer Team (USMNT).
"I never thought, even as a young kid, 'Oh, I want to be a PT for the Olympics in soccer,' so it's just really amazing. I haven't even wrapped my head fully around it yet," said Shirilla.
His job as a sports physical therapist remains the same overseas, but the stakes are higher when you're working with athletes on the biggest stage.
"Recovery after games is pivotal, and making sure that we can rotate because, that whole team, everyone is going to have to chip in because you can't have someone play six games for all 90 minutes," said Shirilla.
He's no stranger to working with the pros, showing off his signed Team USA jerseys hanging in his office at Training HAUS, pointing to one jersey, saying, "The team that then went to the World Cup in 2017 in South Korea, is framed and there are some players on that, that are on the senior team now."
Although his past experience doesn't take away from the significance of being part of Team USA now, as it's the first time in 16 years the Men's National Team has made it to the Olympics.
"And they've never won a medal, so that's our goal to hopefully go for the gold, but definitely the podium, and I think we have the team, the support staff and medical staff to hopefully get that done," said Shirilla.
