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By Mike Butler
New Business Alert! New Business Alert! There’s nothing more fun than getting to introduce readers to a new business and its owners. This couple have opened Worthylake Sports Therapy Clinic on Main street in Wolfville and it is very exciting for them, and for you!
Darcy Worthylake and Kate Matheson grew up here in the Valley, Darcy in Kentville and Kate in Canning, and they knew each other in high school. They both left to go to university, in Ontario and Quebec, and have since spent the last 15 years studying, working, and travelling around Canada and the world.
Darcy studied kinesiology, then went on to chiropractic school in Toronto (which is where he and Kate re-connected). She studied finance, marketing, and small business strategy at McGill. There might be a bit of foreshadow here!
“We always knew we wanted to come back to Nova Scotia when we were ready to put down roots,” Kate says. “Both of us felt such a sense of community here growing up that we’ve never felt elsewhere. And for us, those communities always centred around activity: sports, hiking, biking, yoga, dance. We want to be a part of a community again that also appreciates movement, activity, and the outdoors like we do. We’re SO excited to be back!”
Darcy is a chiropractor focused in sports injury recovery and performance enhancement for athletes of all levels. He has studied acupuncture and a multitude of other advanced sport related testing and treatment techniques including DNS (dynamic neuromuscular stabilization) which he studied in Prague. It’s a specialized rehabilitation approach that’s used among elite athletes to retrain their movements back to optimal levels, using the first year of a baby’s life as a fundamental roadmap for proper movement. He’s actually one of two certified practitioners this side of Ottawa and out of only a handful in Canada.
Kate has been an entrepreneur for the last decade (Mathesonandco.ca). She’s also a yoga and meditation teacher and for the last three years she has been teaching business and marketing to health practitioners to help them grow their practices, so it’s a natural fit to be opening their own sports therapy clinic. Kate runs the business side of things while Darcy is the clinician, the hands-on portion!
“My mission is to show athletes and active individuals of every age and level how good their body can feel, move, and perform when it’s functioning optimally,” Darcy says. “I don’t want others out there living in pain unnecessarily or resorting to medication or surgeries because they think it’s their only option. Especially because what can be done today to help heal injury, reduce pain – even chronic conditions, is absolutely unbelievable.”
Darcy is coming at this from an experienced angle. He has been an athlete his whole life, but in 2009 when he fractured his spine he couldn’t do any of the activities that were a part of his daily life. He spent over a year waiting for the proper diagnosis while living in constant pain. After surgery he was told to rest. Nothing improved. It was only once he took his rehabilitation into his own hands that he was able to retrain his body’s natural movement to make a full recovery. It’s why he decided to become a chiropractor.
“Over the past decade,” Darcy says, “I’ve worked with athletes of all levels: from the Canadian military helping them return to training after surgery, Hollywood actors and stuntmen, to lead clinician for the Olympic wrestling team in Beijing, and all kinds of professional and recreational athletes in between. I believe that EVERY athlete should be treated like an elite athlete and I plan to use my practice to make this statement a reality”
When Kate and Darcy are not working, you’ll probably find them chasing their two crazy Irish doodles, Penny and Frankie, around Reservoir Park, renovating their 100 year old house, or exploring Nova Scotia through hiking, biking, kayaking, doing yoga, or surfing.
And how has Covid-19 changed Kate and Darcy’s business? Well, the personalized approach to their practice has helped them in not having to adapt TOO much in their business. Darcy mentioned, “We see one patient at a time so there’s no real overlap. We allow for extra space in between appointments now to further minimize contact with other patients and allow for increased sanitization of spaces. As with all indoor businesses in Nova Scotia, both staff and patients will be required to wear masks inside. We also offer direct billing and contactless payment to make the whole process simple, safe, and stress-free.”
To Dr. Darcy and Kate; best of luck and thank you for choosing Wolfville to flourish!
Worthylake Sports Therapy Clinic is for athletes and outdoor enthusiasts to help accelerate their recovery, enhance their sport performance, and finally heal those lingering issues without medication, surgery, or never-ending treatment. They’re located at 50 Main Street, Wolfville. For more information, visit worthylakesportstherapy.com or @worthylakesportstherapy on Instagram and Facebook.
