Lack of Athletic Trainers

By Julia Fay

As fall athletics returned in full force, an important piece was missing for many MCPS schools. Only 16 of the 25 schools had an assigned athletic trainer. Of the remaining nine schools all but two had a vendor contact in place, meaning as soon as a trainer became available with the company they are contracted to, they would have a trainer. Einstein and Northwood, however, did not have a contract in place that planned to supply them with trainers until after the sports season started. Einstein now has a hired trainer who started near the end of the fall athletics season, but the solution came too late for many fall sports athletes.

This isn’t a new issue faced by Einstein. The Titans lacked a trainer last year and often had another school's designated trainer assigned to individual games, or just didn’t have one at all. In a series of FAQs answered by MCPS Athletics, they blamed the shortage on higher standards for certifications, including a masters degree, which made it harder for those who are interested to become eligible. They added that despite the great importance of the athletic trainers, all coaches “are trained in health and safety protocols and equipped to act as first responders when needed.”

After numerous injuries during fall sporting events, not only was it evident that there was no trainer, but it was also clear there was no plan in place of how to handle situations without a trainer. During a girl’s soccer game, an Einstein player had a serious breathing problem that resulted in her extremities going numb and, at the advice of another spectator, she was taken to the hospital. The player had to be carried out of the stadium by her father rather than safely exiting in the golf cart. When asked about the incident, the player said “it was really stressful because nobody seemed to know what was going on or what we were supposed to do.”

At a boys' soccer game at Einstein, a Northwood player experienced an injury and was lying down behind his team's bench until the end of the game when an emergency services vehicle arrived to bring him outside of the stadium where an ambulance was waiting. A concerned parent spoke with the administrator on duty during the game about the situation and it was revealed that there was a plan in place for sporting events without an athletic trainer present, but that plan was not followed during this situation. The athlete explained that after planting his foot “[his] leg collapsed, [and he] felt a sharp pain in [his] hip.” He went on to recount that the adults helping him off the field didn't seem to know how to pick him up, and once he was moved to the sideline, he could feel his hip pop in and back out of place. He said that while they waited for paramedics, all the staff could do was give him ice which didn’t help his excruciating pain.

The new trainer was expected to start on Sept. 23, but according to Athletic Specialist Jermaine Howell, ‘“we got a call … 2 hours before the game [that said] that … her fingerprints were not cleared through Montgomery County schools, so she couldn’t be around the kids just yet.” After the delay, Einstein’s new athletic trainer Janna Adams finally started on Oct. 10, and now provides services to Einstein’s wide variety of athletes.