With ePain

^•Pamela Walck

Inthewide world ofsports, where division championships can

hinge

On The Last Three

seconds of a game

And Athletic

•StudenttrainerAndy Mooregivesaplayer treatment before she starts rehabilitation. Trainers often use ultrasoundto break up scartissue before athletes startweighttrainingfor rehab injuries can make the differencebetween awinning and losing season,athletic trainershave played avitalroleinthe livesofathletes and coaches This is equally trueforthe L U athletic program

According toConnie Pumpelly,directorofsportsmedicine, trainershave an unending task encompassing athlete rehabilitation, futureinjury prevention and recovery updates with coaches.

"When an athleteis injured (inagame), w etake alook at the injury toevaluate what's wrong and then conduct teststo see if the injury involves ligaments,cartilage, musclesor fractures.Then w edecide whether theinjury issignificant enough toremove the athletefrom the game," Pumpelly explained

"We then decide if the injury can be taped or iced or if the athleteshould be pulled from the game If so, then wetake the athletetoour physician, who diagnoses the injury and givesus guidelines ontreatment and rehabilitation,"she continued

From there, theinjured athleteis placed ina rehab program specificallydesigned toheal the injury as fast as possible, while preventing futureinjuriesfrom occurring.

"What alotofpeople don't know isthatthereare many differentinjuriesthatcan occur tojustone area ofthe body," Pumpelly stated."For example, there are sixor seven ways to injureyour ankle."

According toPumpelly,the threemost common injuries the athletictrainers see aretoankles, knees and shoulders.

Currently, there arebetween 15 and 20 student trainers involved with the athletictraining process,each ofwhom must spend 50 hours ofobservation and 1,450 hours of hands-on work before being eligibletotake the board certification test

"The reason I likeathletictraining is because I'm involved in athletics, but I don't have toworry about winningor losing.Ienjoy being able totake care ofpeople," Pumpelly stated

Pumpelly said the bestpart ofbeing atraineris that she gets tobe with athletes during the good and bad,and often has the opportunity tosee many overcome their injuries.

"You spend so much time with the athletes...work with them through theirdarkest hours. .then getthe satisfactionof watching them goout and play the game again," Pumpelly stated.

Senior Barbie Ball, astudent trainerand soccerplayer, agrees thatathletictraining is agreatway tobe involved in sports, aswell as inthe medicalfield

"I'vebeen involved in sportsmost ofm y life, and I've always been interested ininjuries. AsanathleteI even made injuriesup I wanted togointo nursing but knew Ididn't want tobe anurse all m y lifeand thatsoccerwouldn't takem ethat far. Soinm y sophomore year I got involved intraining,"Ball explained

•Taping injurieson the sidelines isall apartof studenttrainerJessie Torres'sjob description

Tapingis a preventive measure, eitherto prevent injuryfrom happeningin the first place or to prevent reinjuryto an already injured area

According toBall, team sportsare most affected by athleteinjuriesbecause theentire team depends on each other towin games,whereasin individualsports, such astrackand fieldor tennis, injuriesarelesslikelytoaffecttheteam asawhole

Inaddition, Ballstated thatshehas found male athletesareoftenmore concerned abouttheir injuriesthan femaleathletes.

"Guys aremore concerned because many of them arelooking forcareeropportunities, and guys want theinjuries taken careofso thatthey can get back intothegame," Ball stated.

"Girlsdon'tworry about injuriesas much because therereallyaren'tmany opportunitiesout thereaftercollege,"Ballcontinued

LU athletesnot only have somany caring trainersready totakecareoftheirinjuries, but they alsohave a state-of-the-arttraining centertoaid thehealingprocess

"Sincewe have rehab and weight room,aswellasaccessto many machines, many minor injuriesonly requiretwo tothreedays of rehab, where themore seriousinjuriesrequire anywhere from one week tosixor seven months oftraining," Pumpelly concluded

Though injuriescan be a major team setback, our many studenttrainersarealways on thespottotake careofproblems.With sophisticated equipment and trained professionals helping our athletes, injuriesare rarely as devastatingastheycouldbe.

• Performing aninitial evaluation,Katie Seiple determines whether ornot Kendra Bengds can walk offthesoccerfield After gettingthe playertothe sidelines,a staff trainer decidesif theplayer can continue playing orif she needs tosee adoctor.

WrestlerAaron Wilson, sophomore,uses an electricalstimulation unit toloosen themusclesin hisneck beforepractice

Athletictrainersare important before practices and games forloosening muscles ininjuredareas, aswellastakingcareof athletesduring games

•4 Evaluating the rehabilitationofa sprained ankle,Connie Pumpelly, DirectorofSports Medicine,meets with volleyballplayerNikki Keznor,studenttrainer Linda Ruggles and volleyball playerJennifer Keznor

Applying it inevery areaof life beyond your sport. Making yourself go theextramile, study extrahard, practiceextralong. Rising above and making it happen n o matter what. Realizing thatit may hurt — it usually does— but it will make you better. Excelling inevery situation. Expecting everythingto tumble down around you, butbeing prepared to hold it all u p whenit does. Tightening thetensionon the opponent and supporting your team when it counts. Steadying a trembling hand so nothing falls apart. Untying thescorewhen it has tobe done, without even havingto think twiceabout how it is done.

• Shannon D. Harrington

But the LU Athletic Academic Advising office, which coordinates the academic programs for theapproximately 400 athletes atLiberty, has the goalof keeping academics atthe top ofallLU athletes' list.

The program includes academic monitoring through progress reports, athletic study halls, tutorial services and academic advising on course registration and selecting a major course ofstudy.

Lady Flames' Basketball Head Coach Rick Reeves said academics are a very important part ofhisrecruiting process.Since Reeves came to LU in 1990, allofthe players who have lefthisteam have leftby means of graduation

"To me,if players aren't motivated in the classroom, then they willnot be motivated on the court," Reeves said.

Among the variety of academic programs, the progress report system was designed to keep studentathletes "on their toes" academically.

"Itidentifies forus (theAthletic Academic Advising office) who isgoing to class, who isgetting behind. .. . We use it to make referrals to those who need a systematictime ofstudy,"Assistant Athletic Director forAcademics and Compliance Mike Hall said.

Also,the tutoring program gives student-athletes an added boost when they are not on track academically.

"We don't look attutoring as a cram the night before exams.We look attutoring tobe an on-going method allthroughout the semester," Hall said

< Seniortennisplayer Raphael Cardoso,#1 singleforLU'stennis team,usestravel time tokeep up withhis studies Even on the road,athletesmust make academics a majorpriority. Missing classescan cause problems ifthe athletesdon'twork extrahardtokeep up

He added that the program also consists of individual counseling for theathletes

"Imight simply callan athlete up and find out what's going on.Or we may have a three-way meeting with (the athlete's) coach,myself and the athlete," he said.

Because of practice times, studentathletes are also subject to priority scheduling.

^Jl JsSz^V !pV ?l i"% - ^ S

-* AssistantAthletic DirectorforAcademics and Compliance, Mike Hallgivessome advice togolferKenny Hobbs. Hallhelpsstudentathleteskeep up academically byclosely monitoring the academic progressofevery athlete Hallestablishes tutoringsessions and study halls, aswellas helping studentswith classscheduling.

-< Even with timeconsuming andtiring practices,athletes still need tokeep upwith theirstudies. Keeping ahead whilehome keeps them from havingtotake homework on theroad JeffLeRoy,amember of the men'sVolleyball Club,takessome timeto catch up inthelibrary

"Itisvery important that the athletes get early morning classes sothey will not conflict with afternoon practices," Hall said

Some student-athletes balance their schedule ontheir own

"Iwork out my ownschedule andfollow that. You just need to have your priorities straight,"soccer player Ruth Fisher said

The academic programs at LU are designed withthe student-athlete in mind. Inthe 1992-93 school year,almost35 percent of allLU athletes hadasemester grade-point average of 3.0 orbetter Also,43ofthose students made the Dean'slist

%lllg. bod

Giving u p is not in your vocabulary. Quitting is not something yo u have er know n ho w to do. Keeping your going just because your min d to and yo u have trained it so t it heeds your call and es every hurdle, every hill, |dyintheway. Stayingin ecause whe n yo ufinish,j everyone that you di< seats, long hours, buses become the athletes' second home astheytaketheirtalents away from thehomefield. Unfamiliar territorytests theirreflexesand theirability to adapt. Seeing thesightsgivesthem an added motivationto enjoy thestressoftravelingand endure thehostile crowds. comfortable; planes

Standmirstron knowfis therighttiling and never ev< king down from anything :Juv wav.

Athletesneed to be flexible. They travel long hours, miss classesand playon someone else's hometerritory

"It's alittle differentbeing on theopponent'sturf," Seth Campbell, senioroffensivelineman, says The footballteam flew toSouthwest TexasState University inSan Marcos, Texas, foran intenseaway game "It was ourturntogo beatthem at home."

Extreme weather conditionsoftenplay apartin the disadvantages ofaway games,testingtheathletes' ability to focuson thegame,nottheir surroundings.

"It was 105degreeson thefield(at Southwest)," Campbell says, "butthatwas thelast thing on my mind. I was soup itdidn'tphase me at all."

Assistantmen's soccercoachJeffAlder says, "Our worst travelexperiencewas when we went to Appalachian State.It was October, and they'relocated inthemountains ofNorth Carolina Itwas about20degreesoutand raining, and we had toplayon astroturf Our guys were allwet and gettingcut up. To make iteven worse, we had togo intotwoovertimes. We were outthereforaboutthreehours. But we won!"

Keeping trackofthewhole team at rest stopsisanother challengeteams faceon theroad.

"We had stopped at a gasstation, and I was thelastone inlinefortherest room," athletictrainerBarbieBall said. "I toldTracy (Pritchard, cheerleading sponsor) nottoleaveme, butwhen Iwalked outthey were gone!

"I figured atfirst itwas ajoke, butafter about 15minutes ofwaiting Irealizedit wasn't."

The cheerleadersdid eventually come back for Barbie afterdriving about tenmilesdown theroad, but thatisa prime example ofhow difficult itcanbe toorganizea roadtrip with dozens ofpeople tokeep track of.

Plenty of bonuses make up forall thehasslesof traveling, however. Eating outafteramatch, seeingnew placesand spending timetogetherasa team all contributeto make travelingan enjoyableexperience

Then there'sthetravelthatissoughtafter, hard-earned and theresultofalong-awaited victory. Summer of'93 found theLU baseballteam traveling to Atlanta fortheNCA A playoffs

"Ofcourse, we were notsupposed towin theBig South Conference,"Head Coach Johnny Hunton says, "buttheLord had otherplans We just assumed He wanted us tobe at the NCAA play-offs. We had some good opportunitiestowitness fortheLord inAtlanta, and theteam was reallyexcitedto be there."

Whether on aplane, abus orjust avan, athleteshad their shareofmoving around Dealing with hostilecrowdsin someone else's stadium oron someone else's bleacherswasall a partofthegame

Bagg a 9 e Cla'

< On theirway toGeorgia Tech forthe NCAA playoffs,the baseball team hangs outinthe Atlantaairport. One of thefringebenefitsof being an athleteishaving theopportunity totravel and see many new places

T Long hoursin uncomfortable seatsis one ofthedrawbacksof a lotoftravel. Mike Lucas,Alicia McGee, J'Aime Cowan,Tina Marin and Stacy Wilson make themost oftheir triptoatrackmeet.

<

Traveling bringstheadded challengeof playing someone on hishome fieldorcourt and dealing withhostilecrowds inthe stands Athletes must remain very focused onthegame toeliminatethedreaded "12th man"on thefield

-* Dining out after every match has been a wrestling tradition. The chance toget a meal away from campus isa welcome event.

VVirixiiri^r rlie totithest ^"Eime. Losing Lne toughest game . Ar'ce^dn ^ die mistakes an d se[backs an d never giving urj the hop e [liar yu u will d u ii next T-[tirie. Releasing the frLIStradons "OrtsoiLi emotions, all of what you are and