Whirlwind Summer for South Carolina Athletic Trainer

May Cordero Villamil is in high demand. South Carolina softball’s athletic trainer had a whirlwind of a summer as she was asked to be the athletic trainer for a professional team and then one of the U.S.A. national teams.

“It was the most exciting and rewarding thing I have ever done,” said Cordero Villamil, who didn’t mind not having a summer break in preparation for her seventh year with the Gamecocks. “Sometimes you have to sacrifice to gain. Sacrificing my personal time was way more rewarding for me.

“I was looking for a little change of perspective, and I got way more than I could have ever given to the team.”

Soon after South Carolina softball completed its spring season, she was contacted by the Utah Talons of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) for an immediate opening as the team’s head athletic trainer for the summer season.

“It was pretty fun because we ended up winning the whole thing,” said Cordero Villamil. “This is the first year each team had a home. (The league previously toured as a barn-storming operation with teams traveling to different parts of the country). There were six teams, and you would play each team in a series at home, and then you’d play a series against them on the road. There were 25 regular season games and then the championship series.”

While she is used to the grind of traveling with a team, working with professional athletes was a little different than her regular job with college athletes.

“Professional athletes know their bodies, they know what they need, and they have a routine,” Cordero Villamil said. “My role is the same. The biggest difference is college athletes are still learning their bodies, and their style of play. Working with pro athletes was easier in the sense that I don’t have to ask them to come to rehab and come get treatment. They know they need it.

“Another difference with the pros is the age gap. You have 23-year-olds fresh out of college, some are 34 to 36 years old, and anywhere in between. In college, you have a lot of teenagers.”

Cordero Villamil said the opportunity came about because athletic training can be a small world. Former Clemson softball athletic trainer Katie Rovtar is the head athletic trainer at the AUSL and knew Cordero Villamil from the two programs previous interactions.

“It can be who you know that helps open up these doors, but it is the work ethic and commitment that keeps those doors open,” Cordero Villamil said. “We became friends, and when she left Clemson, we stayed in touch, so I had applied and went through an interview process.”

They initially wanted trainers from the home market of each team, but they were having difficulty in finding someone who was local and qualified to be the head athletic trainer for the Utah team. The general manager of the Talons is softball legend Lisa Fernandez, and she wanted a well-rounded and high-level athletic trainer.

“Winning the championship was super-fun,” Cordero Villamil said. “Lifting the trophy and celebrating with the people who worked so hard all summer was awesome. It was fun to build all those relationships and all of those in between moments where you really get to know them as people. The people are the most rewarding part of this whole thing.”

After winning the championship, Cordero Villamil didn’t have time to catch her breath after more than two months in Utah as another opportunity popped up right away.

“I come home on July 27 after winning the championship in College Station, Texas, and I have vacation plans set, and I go to bed,” Cordero Villamil said. “I get woken up by a phone call at 10 a.m. by USA Softball’s general manager, with whom I had a good relationship with after working the previous summer with USA men’s softball. He says, ‘how fast can you get to Oklahoma City?’”

Cordero Villamil was asked to be the athletic trainer for the U.S.A. Elite Softball team, which was competing in the International Cup. The U.S.A. National Team was competing there with several other national teams such as Japan, China, American Samoa, Canada as well as the U.S.A. Elite team, which are athletes who are vying for roster spots on the national team.

“It’s a tournament that’s played in preparation for the Olympics,” Cordero Villamil said. “Both of the U.S.A. teams could compete in the Olympics and win medals. That’s how good they are.”

After speaking with her co-workers and supervisor at South Carolina, who were happy for her to have the opportunity, Cordero Villamil barely had time to do laundry before she was back on a plane to Oklahoma.

“I was there for around eight days,” Cordero Villamil said. “I worked with the Elite team and we won the bronze. That was pretty cool. It was great to be around such elite athletes and amazing coaches. It was the cherry on top to finish a summer full of softball!”

After being a part of the championship team in Utah, she hopes they’ll call her back next year, and she still has other career goals in mind related to the national team.

“My personal goal is to be in the Olympics,” Cordero Villamil said.

“What I like about what I do is having a non-traditional job. I’m not at a desk every day. You never know what you’re going to walk into each day. That level of uncertainty that comes with the job is exciting. I have a very different relationship with athletes because I see them at their lowest of lows and then to see them go through the process of rehabbing and seeing them come back to the field is a feeling that is indescribable.”