National Athletic Training Month: Thank You to Those Who Take Care of the Gamecocks

Most sports fans don’t notice an athletic trainer unless something bad happens on game day. March is National Athletic Training Month, and in honor of those who take care of South Carolina student-athletes, it’s important to understand the full scope of the certified athletic trainer’s role.

“An athletic trainer’s job is to prevent and treat injuries,” said John Kasik, Senior Associate Athletics Director for Sports Medicine, who has been a certified athletic trainer for more than 40 years. “That has become broader in some ways. When athletes have an off day, that doesn’t include treatment. Athletic trainers are usually the first ones there and the last ones to leave.”

“In the college setting, we are the middleman to everything,” said Craig Oates, who works with South Carolina women’s basketball and has been a certified athletic trainer since 2009. “We are the gatekeeper for all things healthcare for the student-athletes.”

“We are the first line of defense for our student-athletes,” said Jennifer Herod, who works with South Carolina volleyball and beach volleyball and has been in the field for more than three decades. “We’re there on the field or on the court immediately as injuries happen. We’re there for injury evaluation, prevention, rehabilitation, and all aspects of their journey with an injury. Not only with injuries though. We take care of them with the day-to-day things that happen with them, whether they’re sick or if they have to deal with something with mental health. We’re the liaisons there and with nutrition as well. We cover all facets of their health care.”

Athletic trainers get into the business for different reasons and find satisfaction in what they do.

“It’s really about seeing them on their journey,” Herod said. “They come in as freshmen and leave as seniors. I always tell parents that if I never have to deal with them much, it’s a good thing. But when they do get that injury or surgery, and you have to take them through that journey of getting them back on the court, that’s the most rewarding and fulfilling thing. It doesn’t have to be a surgery. It can just be an injury that’s inhibiting their game, and when you help them through that to get back to one hundred percent, it feels great.”

“I like getting people well and working with people,” said Kasik. “I like seeing a light at the end of the tunnel for athletes and seeing something to the finish line. It’s a fun job.”

“We become their therapist and confidant,” Oates said. “It’s the safe space where they can come and open up about things when they don’t always have people to open up to. We see these kids more than almost anybody in their lives when they are here, outside of their teammates and some of their coaches. That provides a unique relationship and an opportunity to be there for them in more ways beyond the physical thing. The relationship-building has always been the number one thing for me. I still have great relationships with athletes I worked with back when I was a graduate student at Delaware many years ago.”

As health care professionals, athletic trainers are highly educated and dedicated to their job, which isn’t limited to sidelines for college and pro sports as they are found in high schools, corporations, the military, performing arts, clinics, hospitals, and physician offices.

“We are health care professionals typically for athletic populations, but the industry is starting to expand into other areas to help improve lifestyle and health care for active individuals,” Oates said. “The old adage was tape and ice bags. That’s a gross misrepresentation of what we truly do, but the unique thing about athletic training is that we can be in a lot of different settings.”

“Athletic training has evolved so much from when I first started 30 years ago,” Herod said. “There are more athletic trainers everywhere now. It used to be just for football and in the pros. Now, we’re on every sideline and in every facet of college sports and high school as well. There are athletic trainers in ballet and NASCAR and industrial areas and in the physician’s office. We’re there in every aspect for every athlete and weekend warrior.”

While working in college athletics is fun, there are also challenges.

“I think the biggest challenge is time,” Herod said. “Of course, coaches would like to have their players back on the field yesterday, but they understand we have to give them time to heal and get back to where they need to be. Working in athletics is a grind as well. There are no four or six-month seasons anymore. It’s year-round. You have to be involved and evolve and be there all the time. I tell my athletes that sometimes I see them more than my kids! You have to learn how to balance that.”

“One of the challenges in recent years is trying the help the kids balance all of these things and people that are pulling them in different directions,” Oates said. “They have so many different people in their ear, obligations, NIL, and academics. We fit in what we need to do for them medically but also respect their time. As Coach (Dawn Staley) says, you have to meet them where they are and get the necessary work in to help them heal and improve, but also respect that their time is valuable, too.”

“I think the biggest misconception for people who haven’t worked with an athletic trainer is that we just provide water,” Kasik said. “Now, hydration is a huge part of preventing injuries. Back when I started back in the late 1970s and early ‘80s, hydration was not seen as a big deal. We’d have one water break per practice in my first year working in the NFL. That’s the way it was. The science has changed a lot.

“There is a lot more pressure for teams to win, so that puts pressure on the athletic trainer to get players back in. Sometimes athletic trainers and strength coaches get a lot of blame for things that have nothing to do with them. We still have to do what we have to do, regardless of the outcome of a game. A lot of time, I hear announcers on TV say something, and I realize they have no idea what they’re talking about.”

The athletic training staff at South Carolina feels supported in what they do by the University and administration to provide the best possible care.

“We have a great staff at South Carolina,” Herod said. “All of our sports are well taken care of. We have longevity in our staff, which shows what a great place South Carolina is to work at, and it’s just a great place to be.”