Amidst the rowdy student section, the players on the field and the band sitting in the stands, there are also the student trainers standing on the sidelines every game. They are the girls walking around, carrying water bottles and taping injured players, arguably the most vital people to the games apart from the athletes. However, the roles which student trainers play are often wrongly perceived.

“We are not just water girls,” junior Katie McCool said. “That is only one thing that goes with what we do. We also prevent football players and other athletes from getting injured by taping them up before practice and games.”

In order to be efficient while simultaneously keeping the athletes as safe as possible, the trainers must endure hours upon hours of practice taping up the players. The girls put in almost as many grueling hours as the athletes do themselves. In the end, however, their work pays off both during the games and in the long run.

“I want to be an athletic trainer when I grow up,” senior Amanda Murry said. “Doing this is a really good way for me to get hands-on experience for it.”

Murry is not the only one that hopes to pursue athletic training professionally in the near future.

“Being a trainer now is preparing me for what I’m going to do in college and beyond,” McCool said. “I want to major in kinesiology and be a student trainer in college, so that once I graduate, I can become a trainer.”

All in all, perceptions of what is done by the student trainers for the teams each night at a sporting event, whether it be a football or basketball game, offer just a tiny peek into what really goes into being an athletic trainer. While it may seem like it is all fun and games watching from the sidelines for free at every game, the girls also go through incredible amounts of training themselves in order to learn all the ropes. However, it is the spirit of the students and the opportunity to help the school that makes being a student trainer worth it.

“It’s good for us to be there,” junior Aymanda Ghousheh said. “We react as quickly as we can and do as much as we can. In case something happens, we’re going to be there for them.”