Behind the athletics at Woodside, there is a hard working team of athletic trainers and a strength and conditioning coach that makes sure our athletes are in their best shape.
While athletes do their best to perform, injuries tend to happen. This is when the athletic trainers step in to treat them and guide recovery.
“If a player gets injured, the athletic trainer themselves would run onto the field and just try and get a normal diagnosis for them,” junior athletic training assistant Kaeyur Narayan said. “If ice is needed, then that’s where the other assistants and I would go get ice, and then the athletic trainer would tend to the problems that the player has. We know how to do stretching and taping if needed.”
Prevention of injury is just as important as treatment, and that’s where the strength and conditioning coach comes in to help.
“This [program] isn’t just about slopping weight around,” strength and conditioning coach Dan Peterson said. ”Depending on stabilization issues for hips, knees or ankles, there are movements that I have incorporated here in the strength and conditioning program that will help that, and that will minimize injuries.”
Much of an athletic trainer’s day that goes unnoticed comes from game day preparation.
“I help with wrist tapes and then getting everything ready, like filling up an ice chest and water bottles and 10 gallons,” Narayan said. “During games, we would get water ready for both teams, ice ready for both teams, and make sure we have enough materials, whether it’s tape, pre-wrap or power flex, and then we’d go set up at the field.
Staying healthy isn’t just about practicing for game day, it’s also about practicing daily habits.
“[Strength and conditioning] is not an intermediary activity. It is something you need to incorporate in your life,” Peterson said. “At my age, I still lift weights, and I’m in better shape than 99% of anyone my age. Once you start [training], learn how to incorporate it, make it part of your routine, and don’t quit.”
Despite the long hours and demanding schedule, many athletic trainers and coaches find their work incredibly rewarding by seeing their impact on the athletes.
“The most rewarding thing is seeing people continue to work out and do the form that I showed him to do in the first place,” Peterson said. “If somebody’s still doing the form that I told him how to do one or two years ago, and they’re still doing it exactly as I wanted, that’s beautiful.”
