As an athlete at the former SEMCO High School (now East Marshall Community School District), Scott Carnahan, who grew up on a farm near Gilman, sustained the injuries, which frustrated him and kept him from playing.

“I wanted to be out on the field,” he said. “My doctor said I could sit out and he would write me a note … I knew there had to be a better way. I thought of medicine, but that requires a lot of education … and I did not want to go to school that long.”

The sprained ankles coupled with another seminal event in Carnahan’s life set him on his path.

“I had to write a paper in high school on possible careers,” he said. “Physical therapy came into mind … one gets to exercise and help people get better without using medications or using drugs … I thought that would be pretty cool.”

T-R PHOTO BY MIKE DONAHEY — Scott Carnahan, owner-operator of SportsPlus in Marshalltown at 32 E. Main St., is shown next to some weightlifting equipment used by his clients.

Next, he “job shadowed” a physical therapist in Grinnell.

“It was interesting — and as an athlete I thought of athletic training,” he said.

With that in mind, he enrolled at the University of Iowa because it had a good athletic training program. He earned his degree from Iowa and followed up with a master’s degree from Western Illinois University in Macomb, Ill.

He cited the experience gained as an athletic trainer as invaluable. That was followed by positions in Madison, Wis. and Waterloo. A friend in Chicago offered him a job, which he accepted.

He and his wife Brenda — also a SEMCO graduate — were living in Chicago and raising two sons and one daughter. After four years opening two clinics, Carnahan was at a crossroads.

Did he want to stay with an extremely successful company with unlimited growth potential or return home and start his own physical therapy/athletic training business from scratch?

He did research, found out there was a need and selected the latter. Scott and Brenda opened SportsPlus Medicine & Physical Therapy in 1999 at 32 E. Main St. Marshalltown.

Owning and managing a business while being one’s own boss is the American Dream. Many dream it, others follow through and a relatively few succeed.

Marshalltown and Marshall County have a well-deserved reputation as entrepreneurial incubators where Henry Anson, William Fisher, Dave Lennox and E. Lester and Jessie Williams — the latter two of MARSHALLTOWN Company fame – thrived.

The small town of Laurel where Frederick Maytag once lived after his family moved from Illinois — can rightfully claim Frederick Maytag as a favorite son.

However, since 1999, dozens of businesses have come and gone on Marshalltown’s Main Street. Carnahan said SportsPlus survived local competition from two hospitals as well as a vicious tornado in 2018, which caused millions of dollars of damage on Main Street, and the pandemic and derecho of 2020.

Carnahan said the pandemic was by far the toughest to overcome.

“People were not going to their doctors … they were staying at home … our business suffered a serious decline l in revenue for many months, but we were able to overcome,” he said.

Carnahan strongly emphasized that support from Brenda, his children, family and employees have all contributed to the business’s success over 25 years. Another factor, Carnahan said, is hiring employees who are enthusiastic, are good at what they do, and care for their patients.

Currently, SportsPlus has 10 employees who offer physical therapy, sports medicine and sports performance services. The business also has contracts with area school districts including East Marshall, Marshalltown, West Marshall and BCLUW to provide care for athletes at numerous sporting events.

Contact sports like football and wrestling required frequent need for on-site services. Now, at age 58, Carnahan plans to remain active in the business while he and Brenda also spend time with their children and grandchildren.

They are also active members of New Hope Christian Church in Marshalltown. For more information, contact 641-753-6636 or visit www.sportstherapy.com.