Many schools have sports medicine programs which are a specialized branch of medicine that focuses on the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of injuries related to sports and physical activity. Schools basically provide places for athletes to get assistance on their injuries so they can get back to playing their sport. Almost all schools have a sports medicine program; however, at Greenway it is called athletic medicine. Ron, the athletic trainer at Greenway high school, explains that he likes to “use the term athletic medicine [because] it’s unique as almost all other high school and colleges call it sports medicine.”
“I wanted it to be a unique thing as we interact and work with athletes. Our main purpose is to be there for the health and safety of the student athletes. We treat everything from a minor finger sprain to concussions and broken bones. There’s usually never a dull moment, and no one day is the same as you never have a day where an athletes needs an evaluation, taping and or treatment for an injury,” Ron said.
At Greenway, Ron and eight other students work to help all kinds of athletes with varying injuries. Ron explains that the student trainers do everything from sweeping the training room to taping wrists and ankles and are his go-to for helping keep the athletes hydrated at games and practices. The eight girls that help Ron put in copious amounts of time to tend to the athletes needs in order to make our sports program stronger and safer. They help athletes everyday after school until 8pm.
Athletic Medicine keeps our athletes healthy. One of the main things they do is help athletes recover from ongoing injuries so they can continue playing. They will tape up arms or legs that have been fractured or broken so the athletes can continue to play. They also bring water to all the games to keep the athletes hydrated and healthy.
The girls receive experience through hands on learning directly from Ron.
“My favorite task to do while in athletic medicine is learning everything that Ron teaches me and then actually being able to do it. The more I’ve listened to Ron or stood by him when he’s examining someone for their injury the more I learn about the body or even prevent injury myself,” Junior Evelyn Singleton said.
“I’m in athletic medicine because I love the connections I make with the athletes and coaches,” Senior Audrina Peralta.
“I started helping Ron and being involved in athletic training because my closest friend who I work with Raven showed me and told me what she does. At first, I was just in there watching till Ron started to teach me stuff such as wrapping ankles or wrists when players are injured. Ron also teaches us about all different parts of the body when it is injured such as soft tissue damage or broken bones and more. The more I listened and learned more from Ron the idea of athletic training started to become fun and I would go into his office every day to help him and watch him help others, as well as I would watch him go onto the field or court to help a player when they are injured,” Junior Evelyn Singleton said.
“I’m in athletic medicine mainly to have something to do after school, it keeps me busy from 5 to 8 pm, but I’m also in it because I’ve gotten to make new friends and meet new people. It also makes me more social when there is football practice. We stay out there for them and give them water and we do the same for games. We also go to games with the football team and get to go to different places and schools. It’s overall fun and that’s one of the reasons I do it,” Kariannah Cox said.
