As the school comes to an end at Angleton High School, the athletic training room becomes one of the busiest places on campus.
Before practice, Wildcats athletes stop here to get everything from their ankles and wrists taped to treatment for various ailments.
Elijah Bouldin: the best part of my job is getting these kids back out onto the field, after either a major or minor injury, and just seeing how happy they are to be back out there with their teammates
Head Athletic Trainer Elijah Bouldin oversees a team of professional and student trainers that works to keep the Wildcats healthy and on the field. For the students, it’s the first step toward what could become a lifetime career.
Skylar Tomlinson: I’ve always wanted to do Sports and Medicine when I was a kid, and going into the program I’ve enjoyed it a lot, and it makes me want to do it more
Jennifer Villalon: It was an awesome opportunity for me and something new to experience, and I definitely plan on going into this field as I grow older
While part of the student trainers’ job is to make sure the athletes stay well-hydrated, especially during hot summer practices, their education and duties extend well-beyond handing out water bottles.
They like to learn, they like to apply what they’re learning, and we try to teach them a lot of things so they won’t just be waterboys or watergirls, so we teach them a lot of hands on things or even at home when their parents or siblings have injuries, they like to come back and say hey Elijah, you taught me this in class, I was able to do this with my mom or dad or brother or sister
Maggie Torres: We have to know what we’re doing 24/7, we can’t just get one thing done and then be like, okay we don’t have to do that ever again, we have to know what we’re doing, understand it, and just make sure everything is okay
Skylar Tomlinson: We have a lot of work that we put in, bc anything we do wrong, it gets put on Elijah and it will look bad on all of us and our program, so just learning all the skills he teaches us is important and memorizing everything that we need to memorize, just knowing what we need to do when we’re put on the spot
Ashton Tweedle: It’s a lot of responsibility, you have to do a lot of work, we have levels that we have to complete, the higher level we are, the more stuff we can do
The students in the Sports Medicine program are a close-knit group, who have fun and enjoy working together at practice and games. But they’re also learning invaluable life skills in the process.
I try to teach them to learn how to get through bigger issues, communication issues you might have when you grow older, and how to think quick on your feet, bc a lot of times in a game, things can change immediately and drastically, and we have to think quick on our feet and be able to work under excruciating situations and circumstances I just like to have an impact on these kids, and see what they grow into the future