National Athletic Training Month is a month to recognize Athletic Trainers and what their role is in helping athletes. Certified Athletic Trainers (ATCs) are healthcare professionals that work with doctors to prevent, respond, diagnose, and help athletes recover from injuries. 

At East we have three ATCs: Shay Brown, Killian Mills, and Brittani Whaley.

Brittani Whaley has been interested in athletic training since college and has worked at East as an athletic trainer for 6 years now. Whaley is an East alumni and enjoys many parts of her job at the school especially attending the sporting events and working with athletes. 

“Working in sports and being able to be around sports all the time … is a lot of fun,” Whaley said. 

Lots of what the athletic trainers at East do is overlooked by the student athletes. But Whaley has worked alongside the other ATCs to create a safe space for the student athletes and ensure they can keep participating in their sports. 

“We are an actual healthcare profession and we put in a lot of work to make sure that athletes can continue playing their sports,” Whaley said. “We are the prevention, evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and referral of athletic related injuries.”

Killian Mills also graduated from East in 2013 and has worked as an athletic trainer for 6 years. By growing up an athlete, Mills wanted to continue being around sports and helping athletes.

“I played sports my whole life and had to deal with a few minor injuries pretty much every year. I only had athletic trainers while in high school and college and I recovered more quickly when I had them to help me. I love being around sports and helping athletes,” Mills said.

Athletic trainers help in many different ways that athletes may not realize. From preventing to treating ATCs are there to support athletes throughout their seasons to keep them healthy. 

“We are medical professionals and we do more than just give water and ice to athletes,” Mills said. “Our purpose is to prevent, treat, and rehabilitate injuries in physically active individuals, especially athletes.”

Aside from East’s ATCs there are also Introduction to Sports Medicine students who help out in the athletic training room everyday. Introduction to Sports Medicine is a class focused on sports related injuries and how ATCs respond to them.

Junior Juliana Bocik has played softball almost her whole life and joined sports medicine to get some experience for the future, as she hopes to go into nursing.  Bocik has gained a lot of hands-on experience from the program and learning what the ATCs do. 

“Pretty much throughout the entire year we go to many different sports events and there is always an ATC and students there to help out,” Bocik said. “We watch and monitor for injuries and we are there to support players on the field if needed.”

Another junior at East, Cassandra VanMeter has played both basketball and volleyball. VanMeter joined sports medicine to learn more about the medical field and working with injured athletes.

“I am curious about a career in physical therapy and I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn about sports medicine and healthcare in general,” VanMeter said. 

One of VanMeters favorite things about her experience is the welcoming environment she has found with the ATCs and other sports medicine students at East.

“I like that we have our own community in there, I think they make it fun to learn about new stuff and new injuries and prevention,” VanMeter said. “All of our athletic trainers care about the athletes on a personal level, and if they’re ever in need of anything or need to talk about anything they’re always there for them.”

Bocik echoed VanMeters thoughts about the welcoming environment created by the ATCs at East.

“The ATCs may look intimidating at first because it can be chaotic in the room, but once you get to know them or come in everyones really nice,” Bocik said.

Jordan Fikis, Mae Robinson, and Mia Rivera are staff writers for Oswego East’s online news magazine The Howl.