I don't think I knew I could visit the trainer my first year of wrestling. The office was tucked far away from the wrestling room and in the boy's sport's locker room. I don't know how the female athletes accessed it. Maybe there was another door somewhere?
Now, it's right down the hall. Our wrestlers will show up before practice to get wrists and ankles taped, have sore joints or bruises examined, grab an ice pack early...it's totally different from what I remember. The trainers are also highly trained. They're halfway to being a doctor specializing in sports injuries. When I was in school, I don't think I realized my old trainer did more than examine our pee in cups to measure hydration, check body fat, wipe up blood, and call 911.
The way injuries are looked at has changed.
As a senior, I once showed up sick to practice for wrestle offs. I was decked out in sweats and shaking with fever chills. The coach let me warm up, crash on the side, and then called me out to defend my spot on Varsity. After I won, I collapsed back on the sidelines miserable (but relieved I won).
I don't think today's trainers would have let me set foot on the mat.
I made a comment to Coach Z about the number of kids we had visiting the trainer. He had a colorful reply about what their elbows are connected to I almost published (heh!).
Some of it is for the better. No one wants a kid to suffer a horrific injury. Some of it supports injury/legal paranoia. A kid who bumped his knee doesn't need an ice pack and a massage before they can do sit-ups.
Right now, our wrestling room is fairly full. It's helped cause a few accidents. Two kids practicing single leg take downs swung their drilling partners into a head on collision. One kid's skull must have been thicker than the other's, because he gave him a concussion. Another kid got hit in the nose and it swelled up real nice. The trainer recommended x-rays to check if it was broken. We used to have a funny face mask they'd make you wear if you broke your nose when I wrestled, but this kid just sits out and does push-ups here. Lots of bumps and bruises happen daily, but that's wrestling. There's nothing gentle about a cross-face or getting your head stuffed in a mat. One of our captains bleeds on his partner/best friend every day.
Lastly, I'm not supposed to call our trainers trainers. They're Certified Athletic Trainers. ATCs for short. Whoever came up with that must be a dog person.
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