When the stadium lights are on athletes and fans are focused on the game between the lines, but a new course at Enterprise High School provides students with a glimpse of what it takes to keep the athletes on the field.
Students in Enterprise’s sports medicine program have gained confidence for the next step after high school through a glimpse into the world of athletic training.
Lori Long, who teaches the course at EHS, has worked as an athletic trainer since 2008 and served as an Army medic for 15 years prior to the start of her athletic training journey.
“This has been a goal of mine since I graduated college,” Long said. “I wanted to start a sports medicine program in this city. It gives me goosebumps to see this program actually into conception. As big as our school is and as well-known as we are in the South, having this opportunity for my students just gives me goosebumps.”
The opportunity is not an easy one for the students, who Long said must earn their way onto the field.
“Once I showed them how to do the skill, they had to perform the skill,” she said. “I wanted them to be taken seriously by their peers, and I wanted them to be confident in their skills. If they volunteered and they could perform the skill well and with confidence, those were the students I had come out with me either with soccer games, with physicals and with football.”
The final semester of the 2016 school year was the first on the field for the sports medicine students.
There were 28 students who took the course, and Long said 11 or 12 volunteered and were able to help on the sidelines at soccer matches and football practices.
Before they could make their way to the field, the students had to prove themselves in the classroom.
One of the students who got field training during the course is rising senior Jamison Meuli, who said the knowledge she gained from the course prepared her for a variety of medical situations.
“I think Ms. Long has definitely (prepared us well),” she said. “For the most part, she’s prepared us for what we’re going to be expecting — things such as taping and emergency situations so you know how to react fast. We did spine boarding, which we would need (with) any kind of neck injury. She’s really prepared us for emergency situations, because you really do have to act on the job and as fast as possible to ensure the athlete’s safety.”
Meuli said she plans to attend the University of South Alabama and may pursue a job in physical therapy, but has not cemented her major.
“I think it’s really helping me a lot,” she said. “It’s given me the exposure I want to this field of study, and it really has prepared me I think. It gave me the confidence I felt like I needed to handle the emergency situations. You can read anything in a book, but you really don’t know until you get out there and you really have that hands-on experience.”
Hands-on experience is one of Long’s goals for students who take the sports medicine course.
“Some of the goals are for them to have the confidence to interact with athletes or patients for when they go to college,” she said. “Communication barriers are what keeps students at college from being successful because they don’t know how to talk to patients or athletes. I’m hoping exposing them to real-life situations after what we’ve learned in class and putting that knowledge into play in the real world will give them the confidence to perform under pressure or confidently in front of their peers. (Another goal is) for them to be taken seriously as a medical professional.”
When Long, who graduated from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and graduate school at Troy University, was in college she saw the benefits of a jumpstart in sports medicine firsthand.
“Some of my fellow students when I was an undergraduate student were not a part of a sports medicine program, nor was I,” she said. “We kind of felt behind the ones (who) actually had been involved in sports medicine programs in high school.”
Enterprise girls soccer coach Jill Harrelson believes the sports medicine program at EHS is a useful tool for students who may venture into the medical field.
“It was all kind of new to me, but it kind of gives them the real-life experience or on-the-job training,” Harrelson said. “I think it’s an excellent program for the high school to have. Sometimes I think people major in something and they’ve never had any on-the-job training or experience. They’ve got a four-year degree and they end up not liking it. I think the experience itself is well worth the program to have it. I was glad they started it at the high school.”
Along with on-the-job training, students also learn what goes into preparing for practices and games.
“I had some of my students do some of the managerial work behind the scenes like setting up the football fields with water and things like that so they understand what all goes into a football practice,” Long said. “I really think it will prepare them for when they go into college. They have to know how much it takes to study, and just how important they are (as) part of the team.”
The sports medicine students have become an integral part of the Wildcats’ success on the football field.
“You couldn’t put a value on what it means to have those students out there doing the things they do in practice,” EHS football coach David Faulkner said. “If you’re going to perform at an elite level, you have to have a lot of things go on in your program and not just on the field with your players. Sports medicine is a big part of that as far as taking care of guys, prevention and treatment of injuries and hydration. If guys are out with injuries, and injuries happen in football, if you can limit that time down or that time out it greatly helps your production. That’s what those students do for us. A lot of people don’t see that kind of thing or don’t recognize that kind of thing, but they play a large part in what we do.”
The students who worked the required amount of football practices were rewarded with a chance to work the sideline during the EHS spring football game.
“They were the first line if an injury happened or if they needed to take care of a wound,” Long said. “They were armed with the knowledge of being able to do wound care and being able to do any type of immediate first aid until I could get to the athlete. They loved that independence. They loved that I trusted them to take care of our athletes. On game day, they got nothing but appreciation, accolades and compliments from the coaches as well.”
Students who wish to take the course must first take foundations of health science, Long said, which makes them eligible to register for sports medicine intermediate.
“The main thing I would tell students (who) are thinking about coming into sports medicine is they’ve got to have a great passion and love for patient care,” she said. “They’ve got to have a very good understanding of anatomy and physiology, mainly orthopedics like bones, muscles, tendons (and) ligaments. They’re going to get a very good experience if that’s their focus and their passion.”
For students interested in starting on a path toward the medical field, the sports medicine course could be a beneficial way to take the first steps.
“If they’re looking to go into sports medicine or anything to do with the medical field, this is a great hands-on field training for them to be around, get some time on the job and get some experience,” Faulkner said. “I think it’s a win-win for them and us.”