The Visor

Student trainers ready to protect winter sports

November 30, 2009

Danielle Hale

Three rolls of tape, two rolls of pre-wrap, one cooler of ice, five water bottles and one pair of scissors. Those are what make up an Athletic Training student aid. Fall has come to an end and the winter aides are eager to take on their role.

Thirteen students are aides for the upcoming winter season, ten girls and three boys.

“I try to place one student aide with all contact sports,” Certified Athletic Trainer Candice Larlham said. “I can usually place two student aides with each sport. For example this winter we have student aides with boys and girls basketball at all levels, wrestling and swimming.”

Each aide has many responsibilities. They are in charge of making sure stocking the kit, cleaning the training room, and preparing water and ice for their team.

The most important role of the student aide is learning about injuries and anatomy. They must be able to tape and know when to send an injured player to Larlham. Because of their responsibilities to the players, many of them attend summer camps to learn techniques and assessments.

“The student aides are a tremendous help,” Larlham said. “They make life a lot easier and free up a lot of my time to focus on injury evaluation and treatment by taking care of the daily needs of the team.”

Athletes incur many different injures that student aides need to be prepared to handle. They are normally the first ones on the court or field to assist an injured player.

“My favorite part is getting to know the teams and seeing athletes’ injuries from beginning to end,” senior Alex Clark said.

Clark has been a student aide since her sophomore year and has lettered six times. She thought it would be a lot of fun and a great learning experience.

“It is a great program and I have met so many great people,” Clark said. “They really appreciate what we do. I love training and I’m super glad I got involved.”

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