Eileen Bowker of Holgate will catch a flight to Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where she will serve as an athletic trainer for Americans competing in the Cadet World Wrestling Championships.
Bowker is no stranger to travel to far-flung places in the name of wrestling; in addition to covering numerous district, region and state tournaments, she witnessed the Greco-Roman men’s team win the gold medal for the first time in Azerbaijan; she was alongside the women’s team when it first took gold at Worlds in Japan; and she and the athletes were once dinner guests of the U.S. ambassador in Mongolia.
For the upcoming trip, competition begins Aug. 25. Before that, Bowker remarked, “We have a few days to settle in and acclimatize to the surroundings and get our weight on target. The tournament concludes on the 30th and ends with a banquet for all the athletes and team members.
“It is an absolute honor to represent my hometown, school and country,” she added.
USA Wrestling, Bowker explained, “is the governing body for the country’s Olympic athlete programs. They oversee the development of our Olympians in the oldest sport of the games. (The program is) based in Colorado Springs, where we currently run our freestyle and Greco-Roman men’s and women’s programs.
“Cadets are our athletes that were born from 1999 to 2000. The wrestlers that will travel to Sarajevo for the World Championships have competed, placed and won national tournaments in the USA and are the best of our best.”
While overseas, Bowker – an allied medical professional who specializes in the prevention, care and rehabilitation of athletic injuries – will tend to the participating American athletes. “This can include new and pre-existing conditions,” she pointed out. “I am also there to support them as they maintain or cut weight in order to compete. I try to bring all of the familiar care items they may find in their athletic training facility because we all know there is no place like home.”
Here at home, Bowker has practiced athletic training full-time at New Jersey high schools for nearly three decades. She is currently employed by Pemberton Township High School.
The sport of wrestling, meanwhile, has also long been part of her life: She grew up with brothers who wrestled, she married a wrestling coach, and both of her sons wrestled for Southern Regional High School. Husband Brian was a successful high school and USA wrestling coach, and the one who introduced her to the national organization, with which she has worked since 1992.
“Initially I began by lecturing at the USA Wrestling coaches colleges,” said Bowker. “I had written and self-published a book entitled ‘Eating Your Way to Weigh In: A Wrestler’s Guide to Nutrition.’ I have authored for the organization on topics ranging from skin lesions (and) nutrition (to) injury care and prevention.
“In 1994, I began covering the USA Wrestling team trials and eventually found myself making international trips after I worked the World Championships in New York City.”
She recounted the trip to Baku, Azerbaijan, where the Greco-Roman men’s team claimed the first-place medal. “In a country where you might question what people thought of the USA, an entire stadium erupted into cheers of U-S-A!
“Wrestling is the largest fraternity I have ever witnessed,” added Bowker, who was recently appointed to New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Wrestling Rules and Regulations Committee as the liaison to the Athletic Training Society of N.J.
Although, like this year, summertime travel is occasionally on the docket, Bowker said for the majority of most summers she is home in Holgate, where her family owns Bowker’s South Beach Deli and Grill. And even when she is away, she know the business will run smoothly. “We have the best people in town working with us,” she remarked. “Talk about the dream team of employees! They are as excited as I am for my opportunity, and I could not do it without the support of family, co-workers, friends and customers.
“I’ll leave lots of lists and I am confident it will run just like the fine-tuned deli machine that is has become.
“I have been abundantly blessed in my life,” she continued. “My husband and all four of our kids – Kayle, Emily, Brian and Seon – have been my greatest support network in each endeavor that we take on together. Then to be able to be able to call Holgate, or Beach Haven Inlet, as home, well, if you think our hands are full, you should see our hearts.”
Bowker added, in regards to the championships later this month, “Here’s to hoping that some of these athletes bring home some medals. With or without, I am confident that together we will represent, grow and cherish some new international friendship and memories.”
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://thesandpaper.villagesoup.com/p/holgate-deli-owner-bound-for-sarajevo-as-athletic-trainer-for-cadet-world-wrestling-championships/1384793