Sports medicine, or Sports Med. is when the athletic trainers help athletes when they are injured. There is also a sports medicine assistant who helps out the trainers and they learn from them.
“To get into Sports Med. 1, you have to have completed your health/PE requirement. Sports Med. 1 & 2 are open to those who complete the pre-requisites and… sign up on their registration form. Sports Med. 3 & 4 are application based so you have to submit your application and get approved for the course,” said Mallory Wells, the sports medicine teacher, who has been working at Leesville Road High School for 3 years, over email.
There are other benefits of being an Med assistant is “You get to spend a lot of time with your friends and you have the best seats ever because you’re on the field,” said Nina Hamon, a Sports Medicine assistant and a senior at Leesville.
“Community service hours, leadership skills, certified CPR and first aid as well as a ED through the American Red Cross and you get on the job training and to learn what a athletic trainer does,” said Susan Ennis, a teacher that teaches health science, and is an athletic trainer at Leesville.
“It’s a lot of work. It was about learning about the body and to understand it. Plus learning about rehabilitation and physical therapy,” said Lindsay Rhoades, a senior and a Sports Medicine Assistant at Leesville.
The hours you need depends on what level you are. “Level 1 – no after school hours but there is an observation project where you watch LRHS sports and complete a sheet focused on what you say the athletic trainers do. Four observations are completed in a semester. Level 2 – you need 10 hours of after school coverage with an LRHS sport in the semester. Level 3 & 4 – you need 250 hours over the course of the year. You can earn as many hours as you would like to though and many students go over the required hours,” said Wells.
“I enjoy it because I like to get hands-on experience on the field and during the games,” said Abby Beebe, a senior and a Sports Medicine Assistant at Leesville.
Though there are a lot of steps to be in the program, it is rewarding for many students.
Hey I am Meonna Sloan and I am a sophomore at Leesville Road High School.