INDIANAPOLIS – Through administering care of student-athletes, especially navigating a season as unpredictable as 2020-21 has proven to be, athletic training professionals around the Great Midwest Athletic Conference have made countless contributions to help make playing seasons a possible reality.
The National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) has billed March as National Athletic Training Month, a time to raise awareness for what these individuals do on a daily and seasonal basis to help student-athletes rest, recover and perform to optimum levels in their respective sports.
These professionals are also a driving force of conversation as part of the Great Midwest conference legislative structure as a committee while making sure to stay on topics currently affecting their ever-changing industry.
The group takes on a leadership role and serves as an important part of the athletic department’s support staff in a role that is somewhat hidden much like the role of sports information communications professionals.
The Great Midwest sat down with two of these athletic training individuals to gain a little more perspective during the conference basketball tournament final four, Findlay’s Fiona Hanks and Cedarville’s Wes Stephens, who are tasked with leading their own teams on campus.
Both agreed that the conference camaraderie between the athletic trainers is close knit, a trait that serves each other well when either serving as host for a home event or traveling on the road to a different facility. The channels of communication are also always open, no matter what topic or time of day.
“If someone has a question or concern, we send each other group e-mails and you get 100% response,” said Hanks, who is in her 22nd year at Findlay. “Not everyone is going to be able to travel with spring and fall sports and we all know that is going to happen and there’s nothing that we can do about it. We do our best to look out for the visiting team to the best of our abilities and hope that we can regain some normalcy next year.”
“I have felt that the athletic trainers (in the Great Midwest) are incredibly supportive of each other,” added Stephens. “We engage in conversations that matter and people openly share feedback on what they want to achieve.”
Despite the grind of practice, game day and office hours, it is a very rewarding and personally-satisfying profession to be part of. The schedules have so much variance and no monotony. We asked Stephens to map out an ‘average’ day as best as possible to get an idea of how time is allocated.
As he discussed the tasks assigned to his staff, the common denominator in all of it is long hours. Individual rehabs, taking care of injuries, doing evaluations before opening for walk-ins. There is pre-practice care, during practice care and post practice recovery/stretching.
“One of the best things about my job is that it’s never boring,” Hanks said. “You just never know what might walk through the door. As much as you want to plan your day, you can’t. That’s what keeps it fresh.”
There are additional options for professional development, including different state associations such as the Ohio Athletic Trainers’ Association (OATA), and some are involved with the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers Association (GLATA). Members of each staff are also using enriching knowledge through home study and multiple opportunities also lie within the hospital systems.
Stephens and his team at Cedarville have been voted the AT Staff of the Year at the conference level by their peers several times, an accomplishment to certainly be proud of as the Great Midwest has expanded with more member institutions. The support from the administration, most notably, Yellow Jackets’ AD Dr. Alan Geist, is also a factor that is important to achieving a work-life balance.
Current Lake Erie Athletic Director Molly Hoffman knows the role extremely well. She was with the Storm’s athletic training staff since 2009 before ascending into an administrative role while carrying the title of Senior Woman Administrator. Her career transition is a testament to leadership skills and qualities developed in the field that initially started with the interim AD tag in 2020 and soon after, the full label as AD.
“People don’t know how much you care until you actually show how much you care,” Stephens said. “It is a thankless behind-the-scenes job but we enjoy giving student-athletes an opportunity do what they love to do.”
So the next time you see your athletic trainer or sports medicine staffer, thank them for their commitment, expertise and dedication to student-athlete safety.