By Katherine Kelly, Managing Editor
During the next few weeks, the sports department will be working with Seattle Children’s Hospital towards securing an athletic trainer for student-athletes. This will be the first time the school has ever had someone fulfilling that role.
The trainer will be present on the sidelines of every game, ensuring that athletes stay safe and are taken out of play if need be.
The trainer will only be active for football until the school is able to allocate the resources to expand the service to other sports. In order for this to happen, there will need to be enough staff from Seattle Children’s Hospital available to supervise games held by the district.
VHS currently has a contract with Seattle Children’s Hospital, and they are working to find someone to hire to be on campus.
For now, the trainer will primarily be at games. However, Athletic Director Andy Sears hopes that trainers will eventually be able to oversee practices as well.
“In the future, we would want them around as much as possible,” Sears said. The goal is for them to be familiar faces on campus.
The difference between having an athletic trainer oversee injuries at games and having coaches do the same is that the trainer knows exactly what to look for when a serious injury has occurred.
“Our coaches do a really good job and always put our student-athletes’ safety first,” Sears said. “We have a really strong ‘when in doubt, send ‘em out’ policy, but we want to make sure that we have people that are trained.”
For now, the trainer will be on the lookout for injuries and players who need to be taken out of the game. In the future, the hope is that they can help with rehabilitation of injured athletes as well as the concussion protocol.
“There is a new WIAA rule in place where if an official thinks that someone has had a concussion, and there is no athletic trainer on site, then the player has to be taken out of the game,” Sears said.
When an athlete is removed from a game due to a possible concussion or head injury, the protocol is to have the athlete remain on the sidelines for the rest of the game. The trainer will be able to assess the situation and see if the athlete can return safely.
“They would be the first [people] on the sidelines to make sure that everyone is okay,” Sears said. “They are the [people] that [are] just looking out for medical situations, so it takes it out of the coach’s hands and puts [the responsibility] onto a certified professional.”
“[Most] schools in our league have an athletic trainer, and I think it’s a growing trend around the state,” Sears said. “We are just moving in that direction as well.”
Teams at McMurray may also be able to access to the trainer during games and track and cross country meets in the future.
Currently, there is not an exact date for the trainer to be hired, but the change will be made as soon as the resources can be provided.