Athletic Trainers

Common Sports Injuries

Ankle Sprains A condition that causes pain and swelling in the ankle region. Ankle sprains result when ligaments are stretched or torn from overuse.

Little League Elbow A condition a ecting the growth plate of the elbow in adolescents. is injury is caused by repetitive strain from throwing a baseball.

Runner’s Knee A condition that causes pain behind the kneecap and also swollen tissue. Can be a result of repetitive strain from bending one’s knee or from blunt force.

Graphic by Andrew Haughey

Athletic trainer Lindsey Biggs examines senior cross country runner Vera Schafer’s knee. “The trainers are the backbone of all FHS athletics,” Schafer said. “They are always there when athletes experience an injury and they always put athletes rst and help athletes to be healthy and happy.” Photo by Andrew Haughey.

Hidden helpers

Athletic trainers o en unrecognized despite crucial role

Andrew Haughey haughand000@hsestudents.org

Outside of the athletic o ce, a vast array of photographs portraying each sports team lines the wall. Each of these portraits contains the faces of dozens of athletes and coaches, but lacks a vital facet of each team: athletic trainers. While athletes and coaches o en commit themselves to one team, athletic trainers work to help any athlete in need of their assistance. Because of this, trainers must be well-versed in a variety of subjects. “We are responsible for making sure that the athletic population stays healthy,” trainer Bruce Willard said. “We help to recognize injuries, treat injuries, rehabilitate injuries and, ultimately, get kids back on the eld so they can be doing what they want to be doing in a safe manner.” Although helping athletes to identify and heal injuries is a substantial part of their job, the trainers perform other routine activities to ensure sports practices and events run smoothly. Typically, the trainers start their day around 2 to 2:30 p.m. by setting up elds for practices during the fall and spring seasons. “Depending on the day, we’ll have more injuries than others, but we typically just go through rehabilitation and anything we can do with the patients,” trainer Lindsey Biggs said. “Around 4, we’ll go out to practices, or if it’s winter we’ll kind of stay in here [the athletic training o ce] as our home hub. If there’s not an event, we’ll get out a little a er 6 and go home to relax, but if there’s an event then we’re here until the event is over.” In spite of the commitment necessary, Willard said it was less than that required at a college level, where he worked for several years. Another di erence between the levels is

the fact that most high schoolers are minors, while college students tend to be adults. “It’s a completely di erent animal in many ways,” Willard said. “ e number one thing is that we have less control over kids. At a college, you work with young adults, so you don’t need to involve parents as much, whereas here we have to be very careful about what we say and do because almost everyone is a minor.” Willard adjusted to this change by altering his approach to be able to treat many patients in a short period of time. Although college schedules typically allow students to plan around classes, high schoolers are all bound to the same, xed schedule. “In the high school setting, we see everybody a er school,” Willard said. “ ere’s a window between 3 and 4 o’clock, which is a really short amount of time for us to get kids in and out of here. In the middle of fall when everything is going on, that 4 o’clock time frame sometimes goes to 4:15, 4:30 or even later.” While the short period of time can sometimes inhibit the relationships between trainer and athlete, recurring injuries can give the trainer an opportunity to encourage the athlete on a more personal level. “ ose are the kids that we see on a regular basis,” Willard said. “Most of them want to get better, but we have to gure out whether those kids truly have problems that are recurring or if they like the fact that they can use this place as a crutch.” Senior cross country runner Anna Runion is one of the students Willard and Biggs see most frequently. Because she was born with an extra bone in her foot, running can be a pain, and nding the right encouragement and treatment is crucial to her in recovery. “I appreciate how kind and funny Bruce and Lindsey are,” Runion said. “I’m really close with both of them, so I like to go and talk to them a lot. I want people to realize that they’re a really good resource and they’re really good at what they do. I think some people don’t use those resources as much as they could, but they’re de nitely there to help anyone who needs them.”