Training for success
Junior, Trinny Liu, gives water to senior, Logan Plasch, at varsity football’s away game at LCC on Friday, Sept. 22. As an athletic trainer, one of Liu’s responsibilities is to ensure players are well hydrated during their games.
Friday night football games and other sporting events are a highlight of anyone’s high school experience. For one group of students, they spend these games making sure the players have everything they might need to be successful on the field.
Junior Rae’Hijah Cooper and sophomore Kylee Mone are just two of the many athletic trainers who give hours of their time after school to prepare the players for upcoming games.
“The major commitment is during football season,” Cooper said. “We are there almost every single day from any time after school until their practice ends, sometimes it’s 6 p.m. Once we get past football season, it’s not that much of a commitment. It’s once every couple weeks just to check in and make sure everyone is doing well.”
“It’s just a really cool program and you learn a lot about taping and icing and all that other stuff that I never knew, and it’s a really fun experience.” — Rae'Hijah Cooper
Being a physical trainer takes a lot of time and dedication. On game days, they are very busy doing the tasks that ensure the athletes play at their best.
“So we get there right after school if it’s a home game, and we start setting up waters and stuff for the JV game,” Cooper said. “Then we normally get to chill for a little bit, eat food … then we start working the JV game. Bringing out waters, taping, icing if there are injuries. Then we normally get a 30-40 minute break in between JV and varsity. Then we go straight to varsity. At the end of varsity games, we have to bring in equipment like all the waters, coolers, tables, tape and all that other stuff.”
Mone and Cooper both recommend that people sign up to be an athletic trainer if they are interested. They not only get community service hours, but also a different point of view during games and knowledge about sports injuries.
“You can just go talk to the athletic trainer, Larry, and he will tell you to add a seventh period,” Mone said. “He has an office by the football locker room.”
Even though being a physical trainer takes a lot of hard work and responsibility, it is an unique opportunity that not many students experience during their high school career. Being a part of sporting events as a trainer allows students to meet new people and possibly find a new interest.
“It is really cool. You get to see a different side of a football game. I have only ever seen the watching side and hanging out with friends, but when you are down there you can see how the players act between plays,” Cooper said. “You get to hang out with friends and get to see another side of sports that a lot of times people don’t see.”
