Greetings Comet Faithful!
I’m still doing some homework on a Comet Football preview for you, and it might have to wait until early next week.
As a bonus though, I can give you a unique look into one of the things that keeps our Comet Athletes going strong: our Comet Athletic Training Staff!
MSU Athletic Trainers Ben Carpenter and Tim O’Brien, supervising the start of Comet Volleyball practice in the afternoon.
Our training staff on campus consists of Tim O’Brien, and Ben Carpenter. “OB” has been a Comet mainstay for over 20 years here, starting here in 1994. He was contracted through a sports medicine provider for the school, and later became a full time staff instructor and trainer for the school. Ben has been here at Mayville State since 2001, with a 2 year stint away in 2008-10, before returning back to Cometville. You’ve probably seen their familiar faces on the sidelines and benches for the Comets, on the road and at home. However, you may not know all they do, and I want to give you some insight on that.
The athletic training staff always seems to be around the fieldhouse and fields at all hours of the day. They put in a lot of time before practices, during practices of course for injury treatment and being on duty for emergencies, as well as treating injuries and minor aches/pains for athletes after practices.
Athletic trainers are a unique component and integral cog to the wheel of athletics, as they have to be a mix of first responder/EMT, physical therapist, rehab specialist, and apply a unique knowledge of training and conditioning for sports. Without them, athletes don’t have first-hand access to immediate medical care for injuries and accidents that occur in sports. Nor would they have a medical provider for taking care of injuries and getting back on the field as soon as possible.
Now that fall camp is starting, I wanted to get some insight to a typical ‘fall camp day’ that the trainers prepare for.
Every sport this fall, mainly FB and VB, has ‘two-a-days’, meaning two practices are held each day until school begins. The teams also have meetings and other training they do (lifting weights, speed training, etc) throughout fall camp at various times. The main duties for the athletic training staff are to cover practice times for the sports, as well as game day coverage too.
Football’s typical daily schedule is a 9:30-11am practice and also an evening one from 6:30-8:30pm. Volleyball carries a typical 9-11am and 3-5pm schedule for their practices.
To prepare for the morning practices, the trainers start their day at 8am with filling up water coolers and even a 35 gallon ‘tanker’ for water on the football field. They typically go through 25-30 gallons of water for an average football practice, and up to 75 gallons in a whole day for the team!
There is about a 90 minute time frame of preparing things just for morning practices, with volleyball players coming in for treatments and injury prevention methods like taping ankles and such, followed by FB players. Treatments may include icing injured areas, using ultrasound, using heat packs, or doing some light exercises to warm up bothersome joints.
Once practices begin, the coverage begins for practice times. When an immediate injury occurs, the trainers are on the scene to access the injury right away and make the call on what the athlete should do. It could go from something as simple as a cut to bandage up quickly, to a sprained ankle, to a more severe injury like a concussion.
Speaking of concussions, all athletes go through a concussion screening when they arrive on campus. This concussion screening gives an assessment of the athletes and their cognitive abilities, and allows an athlete to ‘post-test’ on those abilities, should an unfortunate concussion occur. The athletic training staff puts on these screenings, which provides a crucial look for how well the athlete is recovering from those incidents, should they occur in the future.
Back to the daily grind: Once a practice is done, there is more time for treatments once again for the athletes. This may last another 45-60 minutes, depending on the flow and number of athletes with issues. This is also the time for emptying out the water from coolers and cleaning up after practices.
The evening practices will have less time for treatments, as most athletes usually grab some ice, and go home to rest, and let the trainers get a good night’s rest too.
The training room at the moment is a bit condensed due to the improvements being done at the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse.
I was allowed though to go get a sneak peek at the new training room, which is being established in the former stage area of the fieldhouse!
Below are some photos to share:
Here is the entry up into the stage area, accessible for all.
The view as you walk into the room right away. This area will be a student lounging area.
Hard to envision it now, but this will be the side entrance into the new classrooms that the ’29 Gym was formerly at.
This will be an office area for one of the trainers. Where I’m taking this picture will be mainly the taping area and rehab area. It is a big, wide space by itself and will handle the capacity of athletes we have on campus well.
The view from the opposite end of the stage. It’s all closed now, the opposite side in the gym will have a sweet sign in the works. This is also where the taping area will be, where I’m roughly standing.
The last view here is another office area on the right, and a treatment room on the left, such as the whirlpool and other treatments.
One last thing to mention is that OB and Ben are the only members of the training staff. If you are a student that is looking at the fields of sports medicine, strength & conditioning, fitness & wellness, emergency medical services, or anything in the medical professions, being a Student Athletic Trainer is a great experience to have, even if just for a season or two throughout the year. You will gain valuable experience in what it takes to prepare things for athletic events, preparing teams, learn new methods for injury prevention and care, plus what it takes to rehab an athlete. Talk with OB or Ben about this opportunity and gain some great experience in doing so, which will look great on your profession resumes in the future. You might even travel with the teams and get to support your fellow Comets from the sidelines!
Thanks to Tim and Ben for all they do for our Comet Athletes.
They truly “Tape ’em, ice ’em, and watch ’em win!” every day!
They also make it a “Great Day To Be A Comet!”
#GDTBAC
– Captain Comet
Captain Comet's Blog 