Parents of student athletes at Mount Pleasant High Independent School District can rest easy knowing their kids are in safe hands.
The athletic trainers at MPISD received an award from the National Athletic Trainers Association, the Safe Sports School Award.
Justin Hargrove, head trainer at MPISD, is a Mount Pleasant graduate himself who has been in athletic training for more than 25 years.
“Professionally I’ve been doing this since 1998,” Hargrove said. “I started as a student trainer way back in 1990. So about 26 years now.”
Hargrove first got into training back in his high school days.
“Growing up I was really into sports,” Hargrove said. “I was one of those kids that was always a little bit undersized and when we got to high school and everybody kept growing and I didn’t I decided I wanted to find some way to stay involved in athletics.”
Hargrove took his high school training experience and went off to college before doing multiple professional internships.
“I went to Howard Payne University and did my college work there,” Hargrove said. “I did two summer internships with the Philadelphia Eagles and one with the Dallas Cowboys.”
In order to receive the award that MPISD was honored with a school must meet several criteria.
“There are about 10 or 12 bullet points,” Hargrove said. “They look at our equipment, our developed emergency plans. It shows that the Mount Pleasant Independent School District is doing what they can to keep the kids safe.”
Hargrove said he had seen the application for the award come across his desk for a few years.
“I got to looking at it and thought you know we do everything on this list already so why not apply for it,” Hargrove said.
Hargrove and his fellow trainer Jamie Denman are both certified trainers.
“Jaime and myself both have our national certifications,” Hargrove said.
Denman came to Mount Pleasant from San Antonio and like Hargrove has a love for the work she gets to do on a daily basis.
“I love being able to work with the kids and help them stay healthy,” Denman said.
For both Hargrove and Denman the job brings a great sense of reward, even when there are unfortunate injuries.
“You never want to see the kids get hurt Hargrove said. “But being able to take that kid and get them back out there, that’s very rewarding.”