Each day, athletes push themselves through grueling practices and games. However, without students such as senior Mackenzie Albertson, athletes would not be able to continue the tradition of excellence that this school has come to expect.

Albertson, along with 21 others this season, is a student-trainer.

“I chose to become a student-trainer because I was really interested in going into athletic training in college,” she said. “Sports medicine is really interesting to me, and I love to learn and be involved in the teams that we work with.”

According to trainer Dawn Ellington, student-trainers assist with treatment and prevention of injuries and also with taping and rehab of injuries. Ellington said one of the most important skills the student-trainers learn is basic first-aid.

“It’s huge that they can help stop the bleeding right when an athlete walks in,” Ellington said.

Students enter the training room and are told to sit on a training table. Due to the fact that Ellington cannot tend to all of the athletes at once, the student-trainers are given the responsibility of caring for the athletes while Ellington is assisting other athletes.

Albertson said she thinks the most important skill she has learned is more of a mindset.

“I think the most important skill isn’t taping and stretching or rehabbing, but is the fact that you have to think on your feet when needed and apply what (trainer) Steve (Schofield) and (Ellington) have taught you to the athlete,” Albertson said.

Student-trainers make a major time commitment by helping with the program. Being a student-trainer can be even more time consuming than being an athlete, according to Ellington and Albertson.

“Like athletes, they have to manage homework load and classes with helping,” Ellington said.

Albertson said she agreed that the job is time consuming, especially during football season.

“We started practicing the second week of June and had practice every Monday and Wednesday of summer. Then, of course, (there were) two-a-days where we are there from 6 or 7 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m. And we are with them every practice until the last guy leaves the training room,” she said. “On Fridays, we travel with the team to away games and stay with them on home games, and Saturday mornings we have to be there for JV/freshman games both home and away. Football season is crazy. You feel like you don’t have a life, but I’ve figured out how to balance training, friends, family and school pretty nicely.”

Senior Joseph “Joe” Kedanis is also a student-trainer, and said he agreed the job is time consuming.

“During the season, we don’t really have any time for anything else during the week,” Kedanis said. “We have to be there before the team, and we leave after the team, so (it takes) as much time as the players plus an hour. I usually have to balance my time by getting work done during school and then finishing homework after practice. It has helped me to learn to plan out my time.”

Ellington said the student-trainers are important for the athletes.

“Due to the size of the student-athlete population, it would be nearly impossible to provide care for all of the student-athletes without (student-trainers),” Ellington said.

Ellington also said student-trainers learn important life skills along with the medical skills. “They learn to have good communication skills and also time management skills,” she said.

Albertson said she agreed with Ellington. “I think the most important skills we learn are communication and people skills,” Albertson said.

Albertson and Kedanis both said they enjoy being student-trainers.

“My favorite part of being an athletic trainer is working with athletes and seeing them recover. It’s really interesting,” Albertson said.
And so as a new season of sports begins, more athletes will be entering the training room seeking assistance for many types of injuries, and Albertson and Kedanis, along with many others, will be ready to help as needed.

“I can’t say enough about what they do,” Ellington said. “They’re phenomenal.”