Interpreting for sports medicine: what does it really involve?

A decade ago, I was headhunted to work as French interpreter for Newcastle United Football Club. A position which led to a lot of admiration from friends and even strangers due to interpreting for French World Cup winners. This would be my first foray into football interpreting, but led me to work for a host of other Premier League clubs, including Sunderland and Hull City, before then crossing the channel to interpret for the French Football Federation at Clairefontaine and the hugely successful Olympique Lyonnais Women's Team.

But very few people realised how in-depth this job really was and just how much high-level knowledge is required on a day-to-day basis. I’ll take a whirlwind tour in this post of just what it involves to interpret for a Premier League football team and some insights for people wanting to interpret in sports medicine.

Being a professional interpreter for football clubs in the Premier League is not just about press conferences

It may be the most visible aspect of the role, but press conferences only happen on rare occasions – usually when a player first signs for the club.

The interpreter’s job begins upstream of this. I am both a certified legal interpreter and medical interpreter. In this role, my job actually started before the player even put pen to paper and signed a contract.

Ahead of a player agreeing to move, there was an awful lot of contract negotiations to interpret usually by telephone between the agent and football club. As a professional legal interpreter, it was my job to be present to act as a go-between to make sure that both sides clearly understood the technicality of these complex negotiations taking place between French and English.

Once an agreement is reached, the player then hops on a flight… but it is far from a done deal.

Interpreting for French footballers during medical visits

It is perhaps one of the most gruelling parts of any footballer recruitment process: the medical. This is really where the job of interpreter in sports medicine begins in earnest. The player has to undergo a very comprehensive medical check-up including MRI scans, ECG scans, meetings with the football club medical team and to answer a host of questions regarding their medical history. It is important to have extensive knowledge of French and English medical terminology to make sure that every single detail is translated faithfully to a high level of accuracy. You cannot afford to make mistakes!

During this process, it is usually necessary to accompany the player to specialist hospitals and private clinics as the football club does not have advanced scanners and technology on site.

Each new visit requires a lot of attention as interpreter as you are expected to interpret the entire process to make sure that the player is informed of every aspect of these often-invasive medical examinations and assessments.

Interpreting for sports medicine requires a lot of patience and compassion

As with most medical interpreting, the requirement of the role arises when a player is in pain or has suffered injury. During my time working in the Premier League with Newcastle United, this was anytime during injuries sustained in a game and interpreting pitch side for the club doctor, during training sessions after a minor injury, and also in regular follow-up appointments and therapy sessions with the sports medicine team.

The high stakes involved with such elite professional sportsmen and women also often involved the use of external consultants from across the world. As French interpreter for the football club, if a French-speaking player needed an operation or treatment, the medical team would sometimes call upon specialist consultants from France and treatment options would be discussed – this is a highly technical and complex job which requires a lot of research.

Interested in becoming a professional interpreter working in sports medicine?

Hopefully this article has shed a little light on the full extent of the role of a professional interpreter working deep in the sports medicine setting with an elite team. It may sound a little complex and stressful at times – and certainly is something that requires a lot of study -, but the benefits are clear when the player you have been working with scores a winning goal on a Saturday afternoon and hugs you afterwards.