Athletes dread getting an injury during their season. When an athlete gets an injury in the middle of a season it can be frustrating and hard to navigate; that’s why Westside’s athletic department has teacher and trainer Shawn Campbell and his trained staff.
Being able to assist so many athletes, Campbell says his team can have many effects on the athletes.
“As an athletic trainer, you can have a big impact on the athlete’s health and well-being. Developing the athletes, parents and coaches trust that you have their best interest in mind is an important aspect,” Campbell said.
“ Being able to help the athlete through an injury and return them to their position and having them succeed always makes your heart proud. I’m glad to have been able to be a part of that for so many years,” Campbell said.
With such a talented team of trainers and student trainers who assist as well, Campbell explains the process that they go through with every athlete who gets an injury.
“The athletic trainer will evaluate the athlete and determine the course of action, develop a rehab plan to help the athlete recover from their injury and return to play as quickly and safely as possible,” Campbell said.
Once an injury has been identified, the training staff will come up with a special plan for each athlete depending on their needs for their specific injury.
“Protocol likely will be a set of exercises to perform, it could include some modalities like ice or electrical muscle stimulation and stabilizing using tape,” Campbell said.
Sometimes certain injuries are too much for the training staff to take care of and a medical specialist is required.hat’s when trainers work with parents to get their student into a clinic for professional treatment.
“Maybe it is speaking with the parent and getting the athlete into an orthopedic specialist for further evaluation,” Campbell said. “Whichever direction we go, it’s meant to get the athlete back out as efficiently as possible.”
Head football coach Paul Limongi said a lot of the injuries this year have been minor and are just small bumps and bruises that come with playing football.
“We have been very fortunate that we have not had many serious injuries so far this year,” Limongi said. “Just basic bumps and bruises.”
Preventing an injury isn’t always possible, but Limongi stressed that off season conditioning has been very important to their success in the fall season.
“Off-season strength and conditioning is very important. Properly warming up before practices and games also helps a great deal. Stretching and flexibility on the athletes own time will be beneficial as well,” Limongi said.
For Campbell there are a lot of stressors that come with being a trainer which stem from schedule changes and potential emergencies.
“Some of the stressors for athletic training can include: changes to the schedule, making sure we have adequate coverage for the teams, potential emergencies that can and will present,” Campbell said. “Making sure we have what we need for equipment at the site so that we can manage whatever presents itself. Making sure we are able to provide high quality health care is important. It can even be work-life balance. We work some odd hours and making sure we aren’t overworking ourselves, being able to be present for family life can sometimes be a challenge.”
With a highly trained staff the Westside athletic training program has been very successful with treating athletes and getting students professional experience working with athletes.
