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North Carolina Athletic trainer Nominated for 2018 Newell Award

Article reposted from Gaston Gazette
Author:  Eric Wildstein
He’s the first to treat school athletes when they’re injured, and he’s by their side until they’re back in play.

Jarrett Friday has been on-site as a certified athletic trainer at all school sporting events at Hunter Huss and Forestview high schools since 2004. He’s one of five such trainers from CaroMont Health who treat athletes at Gaston’s public schools with sports programs. The North Gaston graduate has treated everything from ACL tears to concussions, and he also serves as a mentor educating future athletic trainers and other students through his work.

“It’s just to teach them my life lessons, how to actually be a servant to your community give back to your community and be successful once they leave high school,” said Friday, who also discussed the satisfaction gained from rehabbing an athlete from injury. “You see them at their lowest of lows when they’re hurt. To see them return to full participation after an injury is very rewarding.”

Friday’s dedication to his job and service to the community has earned him a nomination as the regional nominee for The 2018 Newell National Athletic Trainer of the Year Award. Presented in partnership with Gastonia-based Carolina Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Center and other leading orthopaedic practices nationwide, the award recognizes athletic trainers for the service and leadership they provide local athletic communities.

He will be up against the other regional nominees from across the country to be considered The 2018 Newell Award National Athletic Trainer of the Year, which will be announced in spring 2018. The National Award recipient will take home $10,000 for themselves and an additional $2,500 for their school.

Several other local candidates considered for regional nomination for the award include Tomas Chao of South Point and East Gaston high schools, and Trent Hayes of Gaston Christian School.

Friday earned his undergraduate degree in sport management and athletic training from Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, where he later earned his master of education degree in physical education and health and human performance.

He says it was a career that he never considered before getting to college because North Gaston did not have athletic trainers when he was a student. Then, his college suitemate introduced him to a volunteer program for athletic trainers and it instantly piqued Friday’s interest.

“I volunteered for a week and switched my major just like that,” Friday said. “I was able to be involved in athletics, which I really loved and I was able to do medicine. I just fell in love with it.”

Soon after coming to work in Gaston, Friday and other athletic trainers in the county had a hand in designing new concussion protocols and other advanced methods of treating sports-related injuries. Fast-forward to today, Friday says athletic trainers, along with coaches and others involved in Gaston’s school sports programs, continue to adopt more effective and proactive methods of treating sports injuries.

But Friday says Gaston is the only public school district in the Carolinas where a single athletic trainer covers multiple schools. He hopes to use his platform as a regional nominee to encourage the county to employ a dedicated athletic trainer at each high school with a sports program.

Our athletes are getting bigger, faster, stronger every year,” he said. “Injuries are prevalent. I think it’s a need for the student-athletes. I wish we could move toward that model.”

You can reach Eric Wildstein at 704-869-1828 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteEric.