Article reposted from The Progress
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With eight-year old triplets Coby, Kyla and Payton, Curwensville athletic trainer Trevor Kephart knows how to juggle his schedule both at home and at work.
Kephart has been working for Drayer Physical Therapy for the last several years, and has been athletic trainer at Curwensville for the last seven. Prior to the that he worked at Clearfield High School and Union High School.
A graduate of Penn State University with a Bachelors degree in kinesiology with the athletic training option, it was an injury he suffered on the football field at West Branch High School that introduced him to the profession.
“I had an ankle injury my senior year,” he said. “Back then, University Orthopedics sent athletic trainers to school once a week then to evaluate injuries.”
Kephart took an interest in the profession after his evaluation and hasn’t looked back since.
With his job contracted through Drayer in Clearfield, Kephart spends his mornings working at the clinic, where he helps physical therapy patients with their programs and assists the therapists in treating injuries.
After he leaves the clinic, he heads over to the high school, where he prepares his athletes for games or practices. If it’s a game night, Kephart will be there for both junior varsity and varsity games before cleaning up his gear and getting ready for the next day.
“When people see me at sporting events, I’m sure they think, ‘Wow, is that all he does? That’s easy,’” he said. “There is a lot of behind the scenes work that people don’t see. Covering games is a small fraction of what an athletic trainer does on a daily basis.”
The profession is not one for someone who can’t handle putting in a lot of hours. While Kephart doesn’t mind the hard work, he does have to balance his schedule so that he and his wife Carrie get to see their own kids do their activities as well too.
“With my growing family, the late evenings make it hard to be home all the time,” he said. “I try to manage it the best I can.”
So far, Kephart had done a very good job of that, as he has managed to keep his athletes in tip-top shape at Curwensville.
He says he enjoys seeing his athletes come back from injury and watching them succeed on the field and in life.
Kephart says he has two favorite memories from his time as a trainer in Progressland.
“The first would be when Curwensville won the 2010 District 9 Class A football championship,” he said. “Also in 2003, when I was at Clearfield being police escorted in to Cupples Stadium in Pittsburgh when they played Perry in the state playoffs.”
The long-time trainer says he has seen a lot of injuries in his time in the profession, but there is one that sticks out, not for the severity or type, but because of his reaction to it.
“It wasn’t a major injury by any standpoint, but I had a softball player slide into home and chip her front tooth,” he said. “I think it was like two days before prom and she was so upset when she saw it in the mirror. And me, typical guy fashion, I remember saying, ‘it’s not that bad.’ And her saying hysterically with tears, ‘I have prom this Saturday.’ I think she was called out also, but by then it was a moot point.”
Kephart’s advice to anyone looking to get into the profession is to be realistic about the hours and the amount of work that goes into being a successful athletic trainer.
“If you are looking for an 8-5 job, this isn’t it, but it is a profession that continues to evolve with endless job opportunities, either collegiately, professionally or high school,” he said.
And with all of his experience in the industry, it’s a good bet he knows what he is talking about.