Student trainers heal all

By CHAD WASHINGTON
Collegian Sports Writer

Student trainers often go ignored, working behind the scenes at Penn State athletic events.

But suddenly, an athlete goes down, yelling and screaming in pain. It could be an ankle sprain, a twisted knee or a head injury.

The exercise and sport science department at Penn State created a program for these student trainers.

The Penn State Student Athletic Trainers Club, which consists of more than 50 members, is part of a curriculum designed to give exercise and sport science and health education majors an opportunity to learn the techniques of being a trainer.

Diane Kirk, club adviser, said this is a good experience for those students who want to become trainers.

Suzanne Kappel (senior-exercise and sport science) is a trainer for the men's and women's swimming and diving teams and president of the club.

"Being president helps me learn skills like time management and how to work a small business," she said.

Kirk said there are five rules all trainers must follow. They must work with athletes in training and conditioning and educate the athletes about possible injuries, injury prevention, evaluating injuries and rehabilitation.

"Our main goal is to prevent injuries in the first place," Kirk said.

Since there are so many students that want to be in the program, it has a waiting list that "most students try to get in on their first try," Kappel said.

The students also have to take a test issued by the National Athletic Trainers Association. The test helps determine which student trainers will participate in Penn State athletic events.

"Most of our trainers go into low-risk (injury) sports," Kappel said, "while our most experienced trainers work high-risk sports like football and wrestling."

Other students get their hands-on opportunity by participating in intramural events and sports at State College High School.

The club also gives its members the opportunity to go to trainers' meetings, including this year's national convention in Indianapolis. For the second consecutive year, the state convention will be held in State College.

"You get to learn new techinques and new things at these conventions," Kappel said.