Archives > The Colony Courier-Leader
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Training at TCHS a full-time job
BY JIM DONOVAN
It's 6:30 a.m. Aug. 14 in The Colony. Some boy and most of the girl athletes are coming to their first morning practices of the year. Teachers are strolling into offices in preparation for their first day of classes.
And the student-trainers are prepping for the first round of morning practices.
Now, fast forward to 6:30 p.m. The students are gone, and a majority of the people who remain on campus are helping out with the first football practice of the season. And behind the scenes, the student-trainers are entering their 12th hour of work.
"We have a great staff of student-athletic trainers," said assistant trainer Cody Carpenter. "They get the same respect and privileges. They get treated just like part of the football team. They work just as hard as the players out here."
So what kind of person wants to be out in the heat for four hours of a 12-hour day? Many of the student-trainers ask that same question of themselves.
"A lot of us aren't sure what we're getting into when we start, but at the end it's hard to leave it," said junior Briana Hobbs.
"We get here early in the morning and we leave late at night," added senior trainer Tiffany Whittaker in between filling up two water bottles for the offensive linemen.
During each football practice, the student-trainers are positioned strategically throughout the field at different drill stations. This way, the coaches are never forced to make the players take a break. Instead of breaking after every 10- to 15-minute drill session, players can get water whenever they need it as it is always regularly available.
"Their job is to make sure the players have water at all times," Carpenter said.
Student training can be a thankless job. Whenever the trainers are performing at a high level, it goes unnoticed, and many of them like it that way. But, even the most in-shape and hydrated athletes can succumb to the forces of a 100-plus-degree day.
From head exhaustion to heat stroke, all cases are treated the same way, if they cannot be prevented.
"We try to prevent that, but if it does happen, we have a set plan of what to do to get them re-hydrated. We pull them out of practice, get them in the shade, and cool them off hopefully before it gets to that point," Carpenter added.
This is just the first season for most of the trainers as many of them will not only continue their services during the football and volleyball seasons but also the winter and spring seasons.
They tape ankles, give stem treatment, and hydrate the athletes. They work up to 14 hours a day. They put in as much time as the athletes. The student-trainers are truly a part of the team.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
WantzATC wrote on Nov 7, 2006 9:38 PM:
" I see something wrong that these students are treating just like a certified athletic trainer. I realzie that they are being supervised, but if a student needs to treat than there obviously needs to be more staff. Isn't there an understanding of liability here? I hope that someone notices and takes appropriate action. "
bigdaddy71 wrote on Mar 23, 2007 9:16 AM:
" WantzATC,
This is the same type of programs that colleges run. Student trainers are more like apprentices for the school's liscensed athletic trainer. These students are getting to take advantage of an opportunity and find out if being a LAT is what they want to do. It is the responsiblity of the school's LAT to ensure they are performing the tasks they were "trained" to do and completing these tasks in an appropriate manner. Most of these programs that I have been able to see have been very well run and an advantage to the athletic programs of the school. I would suggest that you go watch these programs in action and find out for yourself exactly how valuable they are to the schools. "
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: Sports «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
