Aches and pains turn into big 15-yard gains

Author: Simon Keyes

The answer is around 400 yards. The question is not "How long is the distance of four football fields?" Nor is it "How long is the 10th hole at the Ralph Myhre Golf Course?" The question is, "How many yards of tape are wrapped around the limbs of Middlebury College athletes before each practice or game?" That's right: five college trainers, in only one hour, manage to wrap 400 yards of tape around players' ankles, wrists or wherever else to ensure that they can play at their peak abilities and avoid injury.

In many ways, the five Middlebury trainers are the moxie that holds college athletics together. Their hard work ensures that teams perform at the highest level, even in the face of dings, scrapes, twists and sprains. Think of them as the pit crew of a stock car in NASCAR. They take care of the athletes when their bodies need repair, helping facilitate their return to the playing fields.

For those who have not ventured down the first floor of the athletics center and do not know them, here is the roster of trainers. Sue Murphy: 30 years at Middlebury. Dave Matthews: 25 years. Kelly Cray: 15 years. Rachel Eldgredge: five years. Lastly, there is Emily Mathews, fresh out of Utah State as a graduate assistant, in her first year.

Murphy is the lone Physical Therapist in the trainers' room. The other four are all Certified Athletic Trainers, certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA). All five are capable of performing the same duties, and all five are capable of doing them well.

And the duties are plentiful. During regular days, the day technically starts at 10 a.m., but says Cray, "a lot of us are in by nine in the morning to open the room, get the hot whirlpools ready and answer e-mails."

Once the room officially opens the trainers do not leave it until 7:30-7:45 at night. That's a 10-11 hour workday. And that's only from Monday to Friday.

Eldredge's weekends, as well as the rest of the trainers' weekends, go as follows: "Game days like Saturday, Sunday, we get here about two hours before the game to get everything set up, everybody taped and out onto the fields," she said. "Then we are out at the games and stay here until an hour after the games."

The hours of devotion put in by the five trainers is inspiring. Apart from work on campus, each trainer is assigned two teams to cover, meaning that they travel with the team. According to Cray, "The hardest part of the job is the amount of time away from home. On the road, [there are] late nights, away from the family. Rarely do I ever have a dinner with [them]."

Matthews agrees, "It's not uncommon to have a 70-hour work week," he said. "But that's what you sign up for. [We] get the summer off and then you bust your butt for the rest of the year."

To give a quick idea of the magnitude of the work put in by the trainers, consider these numbers. There are 850 students participating in athletics that the trainers are responsible for, and currently there are around 75 athletes who need treatment. Just last year, the trainers assessed 1,582 injuries and provided a whopping 16,317 treatments, ranging from supplying an ice pack to a making a trip to the hospital.

More often than not, however, athletes do not even have to leave the training room for their treatments. Murphy boasts, "We can do a lot in this room. We've got as good of a facility as any private clinic in town. I've been to a few of them and we have all the latest gadgets."

What is impressive is that the latest technologies are not always needed. The trainers can figure out a lot by just examining the player. Cray explained his train of thought for when an injured athlete entered the room.

"The first thing I look for is how they walk into the room, how they present themselves. Are they limping? Is there a certain tell-tale sign in their gait? A lot of times, that will give you a pretty good indication of what is going on," she said. "Next it's important to get a good injury history from the athlete, such as what happened, when it happened, and what they felt. Next we would proceed with the hands-on evaluation of the structure of the area."

The trainers, by simply using their eyes, ears and hands, can often diagnose and begin to create a timetable for action. The technology is at times useful, but it is not always a good thing.

"Of course technologies have developed, and those expectation have carried in our end of it. To a certain extent that has been a detriment," noted Matthews. "There is now more pressure on us to get an answer fast, to get it right and to get the kid back as quick as you can. That's what we try to do, but also as safe as possible. Sometimes the best treatment is just time."

So, the question is, why do it? Why endure long hours, nights away from home and the pressure of being responsible not only for the short-term ability of players to play sports, but also for their long-term physical health?

Matthews explains, "It's fun to take a kid that's injured and you help them get back as quick as possible. And [then] they play to their capabilities and score the game winning goal, or make a great defensive play. It's rewarding knowing you did what you could to help them."

Murphy agrees. "Most rewarding is to get an athlete back out on the field and back able to play, hopefully [to] the level that they played at before they got hurt. The trust they put in me is great, they do what I tell them without question."

Their work often goes unnoticed. However, upon speaking to college athletes one thing is for sure: the athletes are appreciative.

The answer: Accessible. Willing to help with little things. Funny. Caring. Awesome. Well-informed. Knowledgeable. Great people. The question (posed to several Middlebury College athletes): In one word, what do you think of your athletic trainers?