By Megan Hardin
Every day as last bell rings students rush out the doors to get home as soon as possible, but for junior Kassie Leuthart and sophomores Jordyn Boling and Tylan Davis their day at school is far from over. Leuthart, Boling, and Davis are all student trainers at FC.
On an average day, they all stay after school until 6 p.m. to help the athletes with their injuries and anything else that they need. On game days they stay even later.
“We have to help out the people that are injured and then we also have to stay and watch the games to make sure that nothing happens and then if it does, then we are there to help,” said Leuthart.
Not only do the student trainers help with injuries that have just occurred, they also help to heal the injuries that have already taken place.
“We tape their ankles, do STEM, [muscle stimulation,] and also help the athletes with rehab so that their injuries will heal up and they will be able perform the way that they used to,” said Davis.
With all of the medical things that they do, the trainers have to be well prepared to handle any situation.
“They go to camps over the summer to learn more about what to do when people get injured. They also have to know first aide and be CPR certified,” said athletic trainer Becky Clifton.
Clifton is in charge of the student trainers and she also gets to choose who will become a trainer.
“They have to come to me and tell me that they want to be a student trainer and why and then we will have a one-on-one interview. They have to meet the requirements of having a B average, good attendance, and they can’t have any discipline issues with FC. They also have to have the right personality to be a trainer,” said Clifton.
With these requirements and not many people knowing about the trainers program, only a select few will get to be trainers.
One of those few, Boling, became a trainer a little later than the others.
“I wanted to be able to be active in sports with out actually doing them and I also wanted to be able to keep in touch with all of the people that I met when I was a manager during football season, so I decided I wanted to be a trainer. I asked Becky [Clifton] if I could be one and then she asked the other trainers and they all said yes so I got to become one,” said Boling.
With the addition of Boling, the small, close-knit family environment that is brought about in the training room was complete.
“It is like we are all a family. We each bring something different about ourselves that helps everyone out. We have our own personalities, but we get along really well,” said Davis.
The other student trainers agree with Davis.
“This is where I met my best friends. We can all hang out and just have a great time together,” said Boling.
The trainers program has been a positive impact on the lives of all the trainers and will have a lasting impact on every one of them.
“If it wasn’t for training I would not have met a lot of the people that I am really close with,” said Leuthart.