TEMPLE, Texas — The players on the field attract most of the attention at athletic events, but the members of the athletic training staff are often the unsung heroes of any athletic department. National Athletic Training Month was created to help shine a spotlight on those health care professionals. The Temple Independent School District will join with organizations across the country in recognizing its athletic trainers during the month of March.
The Temple ISD athletic training program dates back to 1972 when Temple became one of the first districts in the state to employ its own athletic trainer. TISD now employees three athletic trainers in Windee Skrabanek – head athletic trainer, Kelly Palmer and Mallory Przybylski. That staff also oversees a group of 22 athletic training students, and together, the athletic trainers help take care of 1,475 athletes on the high school and middle school level across the district. Athletic trainers are medical professionals who specialize in the prevention, assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries that occur to athletes and the physically active. The athletic trainers are often the first to arrive and the last to leave from practice and game day events. Athletic trainers attend practices and games, help athletes rehabilitate from injuries, keep athletes hydrated at practice and maintain equipment in addition to a myriad of other duties that often go unnoticed by most people outside of the athletic department. Temple High School is recognized nationally as a Safe Sport School. The Safe Sport School Award recognizes secondary schools around the country that take the crucial steps to keep their athletes free from injuries.
The athletic training students (ATS) in TISD’s program work 15-20 hours a week and work with two sports a year. Many of those students are interested in careers in sports medicine or other medical fields and Skrabanek has seen many of her former students go on to successful careers based on the lessons learned as ATS and the students are gaining valuable experiences on and off the field.
Brianna Davis, a senior ATS, expressed how this program has changed her over the years. “Being involved with different people and different sports has opened my eyes to the endless opportunities that are available every day. Waking up every day just knowing I have a purpose to fulfill on the field, court, athletic training room, and school has made me become an extremely productive yet busy person. I've had countless tiring nights, early mornings, and the painful last-minute changes that have helped me master the science of balancing. Many will tell you this before it actually makes any sense ‘your life, choices will matter for the rest of your life’ and man do I see how much this program has really affected me not only as a student, but a teenage girl navigating her way through easy and tough life decisions. I owe it all to this program and I'm forever grateful for the many beautiful opportunities and lessons I've learned throughout my years as a lug nut.”
“Athletic training has helped me be more responsible and has taught me self-discipline,” said senior Makayla Blanding. “It has also taught me how to treat many different injuries.”
“Athletic training is not only a job to me, but a passion,” said sophomore Jordan Valdez. “We are here to rehabilitate and prevent injuries for athletes and we also keep them hydrated.”
“This program helped me with overcoming a lot of the social anxiety that I had before,” said senior D’Asjia Johnson. “It’s also helped me become a better person by learning how to take responsibility for my own actions, how to be places on time, how to function in stressful situations and how to be a team player. Not only was I able to learn first aid, I was able to learn real world experiences.”
“This program helped involve me with others,” said senior Siara Bookman. “And also involved me as a student and building relationships with my team.”
“We want to educate our community and our athletes in the field of athletic training,” Skrabanek said. “Being an athletic trainer involves many roles in a secondary school setting, and we are definitely more successful as a department because of all that our athletic training students and staff do every day.”
“After working in various high school settings, Temple has been very rewarding and has allowed me to build relationships with that will last a lifetime,” Palmer said. “The ATS go above and beyond each day, taking pride in their role and responsibilities, they definitely do not get enough credit for all time and commitment to Temple Athletics.”
The theme for this year’s National Athletic Trainers Month is “There’s an AT for That.” The TISD athletic training team will participate in several recognition events during the month and will also compete in the “Trainer Olympics” at Georgetown High School on March 8th. There will be more than 20 schools competing in that event and Temple finished 11th out of 20 schools in the 2022 Trainer Olympics. TISD will also take its ATS on tours of a couple of college athletic training programs later this month after visiting Sam Houston State’s facilities in the fall.