The 29/1
Official Podcast of the West Ottawa High School Athletic Program. 29 Sports, One Team. The show that brings you into the lives of student athletes, coaches and other faces in the Panther Sports Community. Bringing you the stories you might otherwise never hear. Join Rodney Vellinga and Athletic Director Bill Kennedy as they dive in with you to get to know each other a little bit better.
The 29/1
We Got Your Back: On The Scene with Athletic Trainers Chris Schoenrock & Grace Mierendorf
Ever wonder what it takes to keep student-athletes at their best, both on and off the field? Come and hang out with some of the best people we get to interact with at West Ottawa. Athletic Trainers Chris Schoenrock and Grace Mierendorf (Chris & Grace), the devoted athletic trainers at West Ottawa High School, whose stories might just shift your perspective on sports and rehabilitation. They share how their personal journeys through sports injuries led them to dedicate their lives to the well-being of young athletes. Chris and Grace reveal the pulse of game day intensity and the critical role they play, turning potential chaos into calm with their expertise and unwavering composure.
Step into the bustling world of game days, where the spotlight isn't on the scoreboard but on the athletes' every move. Chris and Grace provide a rare glimpse into their intricate routines, detailing how they manage the unpredictable nature of their work, balancing professionalism with light hearted interactions. They recount their personal experiences with sports injuries and how those moments of vulnerability inspired them to become champions of athlete safety and health. It's a world where ice bags and golf carts become tools of the trade, and a calm demeanor can make all the difference.
The heart of our conversation lies within the training room, a space transformed by Grace and Chris into a haven of support and mentorship. Through their guidance and open communication, they cultivate a sense of community that extends beyond physical care to embrace the emotional and academic pressures faced by student-athletes. Their impact is profound, not only on the athletes they care for but also on future trainers like Lilly and Mariah, who they work with on the daily. As we wrap things up, we recognize and appreciate the unique bond Chris and Grace have built with their students, ensuring that the spirit of teamwork and dedication thrives at West Ottawa High School.
Podcasts now dropping at 5pm every Sunday evening for that late weekend chill, or listen Monday AM during that morning commute or workout. Please like, follow, subscribe, or leave a review. Even share with someone who might like to listen. Thanks for taking the time to get to know each other a little bit better. The people who make West Ottawa Athletics what it is. Go WO!
Special thanks to Laura Veldhof Photography.
Hey everybody, welcome back to another edition of the 29.1 podcast. I'm your host, Rodney Velinga, and I am here with Panthers Athletic Director, bill Kennedy, the ever steady Bill Kennedy. Today we sit down with some very familiar game day faces at West Ottawa High School. If you've been to any athletic event in the last couple of years, you've seen them. They're always present and ready to bounce into action at a moment's notice. It could be a full out sprint, a jog or a quick jump into the golf cart, but they are always there when needed and ready to go, usually with gear galore either swung across their shoulder as a sling bag or a belt bag fanny pack around the waist, like Bill Kennedy had in the early 90s. I am talking about our two beloved athletic trainers at West Ottawa high school who do so much for and spend so much time with our student athletes, and I'm grateful to ask who is it?
Speaker 3:Chris Schoenrock and Grace Mierendorf.
Speaker 2:Who is it? Chris?
Speaker 3:and Grace. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, all right, we know these guys.
Speaker 1:I talked to Bill Kennedy before and I go what are our trainers last names, and I didn't know. And then I know now because I'm not even remember him after that.
Speaker 4:So yeah, thanks so much for both of you for carving out a little bit of time. I know that time is very valuable in the role of the athletic trainer, especially at a school our size with as many student athletes. We're getting ready for a basketball game here at home tonight, so there's game day duties. Just really appreciate you both kind of coming in like you always do, reliable, going to spend time and get it done, and we're excited to kind of share your stories a little bit with our community.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's been really fun, you know, for myself, just being around like scores, tables and stuff, and I get to chit chat with you guys every now and again. It's been like really fun to get to know you, even just the little portion of you that I know. It's been really fun. And you guys always bring, you know, bring great energy, passion, commitment and, you know, really a real love for what you do. And guess what? You guys need it for those long days, don't you?
Speaker 3:Oh yes, oh yeah, that and caffeine.
Speaker 1:Chris, you told me yesterday you said every day ends with a question mark. What does that mean for you guys?
Speaker 2:It depends on the. You know the sporting event or event that we're having throughout that night. You know, as an athletic trainer, that most people don't know about the day starts with you being almost the first person there and usually ends being the last person to leave the building.
Speaker 4:So bill thought it was him there they are, at more events than I am. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I will say that grace, you feel the same way.
Speaker 3:Huh, yeah, I mean there's days where you might get to watch the event and there's other days where you leave and you're like I just triaged eight people in a game and I don't know what the score was, I don't know what happened, and you're just in your car driving home, just making it home. And I mean there's days, too, where we get done with football and I'm putting the golf cart back and you see, bill drive away and I'm just walking back across the field ready to go home.
Speaker 3:Sometimes, depending on the day, that walk back is slow because you need that second ticket.
Speaker 2:Uh recap everything, that kind of like a what just happened?
Speaker 1:yeah, true, so you know, depending on what's going on, I think there was one day I saw either one of you at tennis in the morning and then later on there was a. There was a soccer game at night. I remember I think it was you, chris. I literally go. I said you're still here.
Speaker 2:Yes, it was like it's uh, yeah, quote quote the the life that, uh, that we chose. It's just you know, yep, it's all part of it, yeah of course gotta talk to the guy that does the scheduling.
Speaker 1:Dial that in a little bit better you know, usually somebody that goes into a field that you're in you've also. You know you've played sports right, you were athletes, you know were sorry but you still do some things were high school athletes, but you know a lot of time people don't know the sports you played. Let's go back maybe in time a little bit grace.
Speaker 3:Tell us what you did in high school, the sports you were involved in yeah, so growing up I was always involved in swimming and carried that into high school. I was a all-state, all-conference swimmer all four years bang um, which was super exciting, very proud of that. And then I actually started playing soccer in high school as a dare, um, if one of my friends did swim.
Speaker 3:I had to do soccer and I was a four-year varsity goalie, but I was very injury prone in both of those. I mean, swimming's a hard enough sport as it is and then going and playing as a goalie, I'm diving at people's feet and being shot at a daily. So concussions, rolled ankles, jammed thumbs, fingers, whatever. I was in the athletic training room all the time.
Speaker 1:And you went to high school. Was it Wayland? I believe you said right.
Speaker 3:I lived in Wayland but I went to North point Christian.
Speaker 1:So I had a 45 minute drive every morning. That's tough, that's a long way. Wow, okay you're, you're commuting. Well, you still commute.
Speaker 3:Now so, yeah, now your commute is less. It's only 35, I know 10 minutes less yeah and and what about for you?
Speaker 2:chris, I got into sports super early on. Throughout like elementary, middle, uh, high school, I played geez.
Speaker 1:I tried to be involved yeah, this is a list, so get started because it's a lot I.
Speaker 2:I just I found sports is such a great community of just like learning and being supported, developing relationships. But yeah, my, my list is pretty long. So anytime a season was available, I was, I was playing something, so baseball was my number. One played varsity baseball for years. I caught and played uh short most of the time. I played varsity basketball for two years and JV basketball, um. In the beginning, outside of high school sports, I played ice hockey, roller hockey, um. I played soccer all four years. So it was. It was a huge part of my development and just really loving sports.
Speaker 2:So yeah heavily involved it was great.
Speaker 4:I love the multi-sport athlete. We have multi-sport athletes in our athletic training room, oh yeah, can only help us continue to encourage those kids to try things right, of course part of being around sports.
Speaker 1:Even now, everyone's more or less a sports junkie. If you're still hanging around sports these days, a lot of times I asked you. I talked with you both on the phone the other night and it was really funny. I knew this was going to be the answer, but I asked you what led you into this vocation, this field? And I got the answer I expected. Grace, when do you want to? Maybe you want to go first?
Speaker 3:Yeah, like I said, I was a very injury-prone athlete, so swimming is just so taxing on your body and I swam basically every single event, but mostly I was that 200, 500. And then in college I swam the mile and stuff, and going from physical therapy and then being in the athletic training room during soccer, I just knew I wanted to do something to help people after watching all those people help me but I'm not a big needles person so I knew nursing was not the move you're better with little needles yeah, but also like broken bones that's fine, blood, that's fine.
Speaker 3:It's just having to put needles in people. I was like you know, if I could have a job without that, that'd be great.
Speaker 1:And you found it.
Speaker 3:I found it.
Speaker 1:Did you have a major injury or was it more just smaller injuries that you were just consistently getting treatment for?
Speaker 3:Yeah, they were just smaller injuries here and there. For my name being Grace, I was a very ungraceful athlete so I was just used to being in there for little bumps and bruises and little things here and there.
Speaker 1:And then, chris, your situation was a little bit different. What pushed you towards athletic training? Maybe tell us about the event in I believe it was high school that kind of got you down this path, sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it was my junior year when I was playing baseball. I was catching mid game, going in for a slide, I think into maybe second base and I actually tore my ACL. So that was a that was a major point of my athletic career that really brought me back and made me really appreciate the rehab aspect of things. I went to a sports medicine clinic and seen a physician talking about surgery and, to be honest with you, when I was there I was like this is great. I enjoyed the aspect of helping others and I saw a lot of other athletes with potentially the same type of injury. So that was a big part that pushed me towards athletic training to help other athletes and honestly at this point, live through them kind of at this point to just like hope for their successes and just really get them back to what they love. So like I experienced that firsthand and it's just so nice to really implement that into the high school now.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I also dealt with some injuries, but it's really the reason why, if somebody asks me for a bag of ice like, I know how to get the air out of the bag because I watched it so many times.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:The skill.
Speaker 1:There wasn't really a lot of interaction with athletic trainers at your schools though, right, I know for you, chris, there was pretty much nothing. Grace, I don't know what yours was, but maybe, chris, you want to talk about your experience with that injury Sure and what was available at your school resources back then.
Speaker 2:To be honest with you, we didn't have a full-time athletic trainer. There was, I think, a mother from one of the athletes on the football team that would come and maybe just help with band-aids. So I never knew what an athletic trainer was actually until I kind of got into college and pursued it. So it's so nice to see the difference now, to have that medical provider on site immediately to help these kids and refer them or take care of them the way that they need to. So, like I, I really didn't have that at the time. It was kind of either me take care of myself or or kind of just you know, figure it out.
Speaker 1:So yeah, it's. What years were you in high school?
Speaker 2:I was a little while ago. Uh, I was in high school from 2006 to 2010.
Speaker 1:Man, even between 2006 and 2010.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I would say so. I got involved in high school athletics here in Michigan in 04, and we had full-time athletic trainers. But if you're not from a highly populated area, I would say that it's going to be way more difficult to find trainers. Or a less affluent area right, Schools just could not afford to bring somebody on staff. You know, west ottawa was a little different because we had the legendary deb geek over back in the 1970s, come on board um who really kind of pushed.
Speaker 4:it pushed what we're doing here at west ottawa initially, but yeah it's, there are still schools out there that don't have a full time on staff person. They'll basically rotate through resource individuals that will come in and treat athletes each and every day. That's what we had when I was in high school. You know we had a trainer that would come in twice a week.
Speaker 1:Oh, you guys both went to school for this. You both went to different places Grace you went to Indiana Wesleyan and Chris went to Central Michigan. Yes, tell us about the, because we're going to talk about this a little bit later, but you sometimes take different approaches to problems or trying to solve things. What was your experience at Indiana Wesleyan, just as a college student?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I started, like I initially enrolled as an exercise science major because I was still torn between, like PT or AT, and I had a professor named Adam Thompson he's still there as a professor and an athletic trainer and he came in and spoke to our intro to exercise science class and he was like this is what athletic training is and I was hooked. The passion he had for it, the experiences he had had were absolutely amazing. He's he actually traveled with the paris olympics uh fencing and saber team this past year which was so cool to see and like be like oh my gosh, I know that guy right
Speaker 3:but, um, the professors there and the preceptors and the athletic trainers, they only care about you growing as an athletic trainer and it's a smaller school so you weren't one of a hundred, you were literally. I think my cohort was about seven, eight kids, so you got to work so closely with your cohort and then, knowing them, they cared about you individually. They made sure you got to learn the skills that they knew you were struggling with because they were also your teachers. So they would get my test back and be like, oh, you were struggling with the hip and knee. Guess what's going to happen today when you're at basketball practice if a kid walks in with a hip or a knee.
Speaker 3:That's all you. We're going to learn. We're going to grow and go from there, yeah how about yourself?
Speaker 2:chris, uh, to be honest with you, I actually went to Central Michigan to be an accountant, which was just so.
Speaker 4:Very similar.
Speaker 2:So outside of, like I said, leaving high school and everything, not having an athletic trainer, right.
Speaker 1:Why would you even think of it?
Speaker 2:It wasn't really on my forefront, but I think it might have been in my second semester there that some of the athletic training classes were close and I got to meet a couple of friends that were in the program and instantly I had to make this switch. So I was like, am I going to take on a new four-year degree? Absolutely, I love this. This is going to get me back into the sports aspect of things, helping kids or whatever environment that I decided to work with, and it was. It was the greatest decision I ever made. So I'm just I'm happy that I made that switch over and the the program itself like there's, like grace, there's there's only a cohort of about eight people that go through the program at at a time, so that becomes like your training tight family. So, yeah, there it's very closely related and it's just it's nice to see like-minded individuals that see things exactly the same way. So, yeah, it was, it was, it was a great experience and I'm super happy I made that transition.
Speaker 4:Did the accounting classes transfer over into that second major?
Speaker 2:You know, I thought about doing a minor in it, but honestly, the athletic training program is so intense that most may not know about that. There was not much time for it. So those, those accounting skills are just in my back pocket now.
Speaker 1:I think you still use them with all the administrative work you do.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it comes in handy with us having to do like our orders and stuff, working on the spreadsheets.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it comes in clutch spots, but I'm super happy to make that.
Speaker 1:There's a good trick that you can use in life, like even, for example, with some of the administrative work. You can say well, chris, you're really good at it and I'm not.
Speaker 4:Maybe you want to do that. It's a good way to get out of something. Talk to us a little bit about kind of the first arrival here at West Ottawa. Both kind of came in at a little bit different times. Grace, you initially started as a halftime through our agreement with Corwell Health. You were working primarily with middle school, and then we had a space open here. Chris, you kind of came in a little bit later. I guess what were your kind of first impressions of West Ottawa and kind of what led you to think, oh, that would be a pretty cool spot to go and serve in this role.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I initially came out to visit with Frank and Juliana. They were the full-time ATs here at the time I was interviewing and they presented the role of the part-time being more working with the middle school population and I was really passionate about working with that younger population because they don't know a lot about their bodies, so everything is oh my gosh, it's broken.
Speaker 3:I'm dying, and so like they just need the education of even what's the difference between, like soreness and pain. So I came in and, coming from a very small high school, it was a lot at first and it was kind of like being thrown to the wolves at some point. But it allowed me to grow my athletic training skills so quickly because I had such amazing mentors like Frank and Juliana who kind of took my hand and showed me the ropes. And then getting the experience as being that part time person and still having 20 hours a week where I could go pick up other shifts through Corwell allowed me to get used to working other sports, different settings and just kind of hone those skills even more, so that when there was that full time position opening up I felt really comfortable moving into it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and then shortly thereafter maybe not that shortly thereafter, but Juliana decides to kind of transition in her career, opening up the spot for you, Chris. You were kind of coming to us from a different perspective, right, Coming out of the clinic and coming into the high school space.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I worked at an orthopedic clinic. It was an urgent care for two years and, to be honest, I enjoyed the experience and seeing different injuries and how the management of acute fractures or wounds or splinting was taking place there. However, I was losing a little bit of my clinical physical exam skills that I wanted to get back into. I have this end goal potentially hopefully one day to be a physician assistant, and I just thought that coming back into a or going to a large high school setting like West Ottawa was going to allow me to have that day-to-day experience with athletes and kids and parents and, geez, the community here was so accepting of a new healthcare provider just taking care of their kids on a daily. So it has been so great just to see the community buy-in and also like the support and warmth honestly from just seeing parents on the sidelines just being happy that we're here and it's been really welcoming and just so happy to make that move over to the secondary school setting from the clinic. So it's been great.
Speaker 3:I will say it was slightly stressful when Chris first came in because it was at the eight-week sprint of spring. So it was after spring break and I knew he was starting full time and I was like, oh my gosh, please stay through the spring. It's eight Saturdays in a row. You're there every night working events. And he got done and he was like, is, is it all like this? I got just the spring, just the spring.
Speaker 2:I did come in during a pretty high traffic time of of not having much time to really get bearings or anything that I thought kind of the slow transition, which was great, because I think a huge learning aspect that I always stand by is just going into the shark tank and it was just really great to just get right in and start getting to know and developing relationships with athletes. And, yeah, I got got through that initial spring and, uh, rolling ever since.
Speaker 4:So, the spring is a different animal.
Speaker 1:Oh, no doubt about it.
Speaker 1:The fall is pretty high too, but yeah, let's talk about where a lot of people in the community see you, which is usually on a game day, so there's sidelines. Usually, you know, stuff starts in the fall, so it's at football. Somebody gets injured on the field and you guys are out there. The whole place gets quiet as you guys do your work. That's where we see you. Do you find it stressful I mean, I was going to ask this right away Like the possibility of something serious is just around the corner at any moment. What's that like? Maybe, grace, you want to go first?
Speaker 3:It's a weird calm before the storm. It's a weird calm before the storm, like I would say I'm, I'm paying attention, I'm alert, I'm looking for those things, making sure that, like kids are getting up, watching mechanisms of like how kids are getting hit or whatever's going on.
Speaker 3:But I don't feel as nervous when something occurs you're seasoned now, right yeah, it's the afterwards where, like, okay, you just did whatever, handled that emergency situation called 9-1-1, and then now you have a kid walking up to you being like, can you take my fingers? Like I need a buddy tape, and I'm just like, did you not just see what? Like you just go right back into it and that's like it's just part of the job.
Speaker 2:Yeah, always ready yeah, I think my standpoint from it is just over time you you develop that response to either emergency or or being called to a situation that maybe maybe normal individual or or someone would not be super comfortable with. But we love this to the extent of things like bones or traumatic injuries we find a comfortability to be, honest with you.
Speaker 2:You get calm during that time don't you, yeah, yeah. Which is super great too for both community, parent and the athlete themselves to just have a comfortable space, to just know that they will be taken care of in a way that it's not like, oh my God, what's going on, you know. So it's. It's a huge aspect for us to to keep that comfortable mindset to take care of, you know, the athletes the way we need to, so we get, we get used to it.
Speaker 4:So there's a seasoned aspect of it. One of the things that's really helped, too right, is the MHSA recently came out with kind of the edict that everyone has to have emergency action plans and put those in place and you guys drill those with our teams. So I'm sure that reduces anxiety a little bit as well, right, chris?
Speaker 2:Yes, planning is a huge aspect of what we do every day too, so it's a lot easier during these traumatic or emergency situations knowing that we have any AP in place. We know who we need to call during traumatic injuries, or who's the faculty behind, who's going to be taking care of calling 911 or who's going to be there with our emergency bag. So the preparation behind what we do is a huge aspect that makes us calm during those situations.
Speaker 3:And it also provides a sense of peace for the kids. Like the times we've had to provide emergency care. The kids are at so much more peace, knowing like OK, me and the coaches just saw the athletic trainers do this at practice and I know my coaches can do it. I know my teammates can help if needed. They know what they're doing. I'm in good hands.
Speaker 2:Correct. Yeah, I think that's a huge aspect of all of the like preseason or or prep drills that we do with teams that if or when this does occur, there's a comfortability of we know what to do, we understand, and that just allows things to go so much smoother.
Speaker 1:It's nice, briefly, when you get started. But when I was on the phone with you I said, hey, what's something I don't know about you that I can ask you and I'll be surprised. And you said, well, it's the way you watch a game yes, and it's very different.
Speaker 1:So the lay person sitting out in the stands like, oh, they're just sitting there waiting for the next ankle to tape, right? I mean, that's kind of the ignorant approach if you will, and I'll be that guy, but the way you guys watch games is much different than that. Tell us maybe, take turns about it or go back and forth, what's it like to watch a game for you is much different than the regular person.
Speaker 3:Yeah, if you ask me who scored last or what, the score is.
Speaker 2:I will have no idea.
Speaker 3:You'll see me at soccer sidelines where they'll be like did you see what jersey number scored? That was like nope. I'm looking at the person that jumped up in the air to head the ball. Did their ankles roll in when they landed? That person got slide tackled. Do they have any blood on their shins? Volleyball players. I watched the ball hit their hands and I watched their feet hit the floor. Like I am not watching the game, I'm watching any points of contact. I mean, let's talk about hockey for a second. Yeah, they they get hit into the boards, but the second they fall. There are literal blades in the air heading towards heads, arms, hands, whatever. So it's just those different things of we're watching those points and making sure like everyone's getting up, no one's limping, no one's holding anything, there's no blood on jerseys, things like that, rather than congrats so and so just got a touchdown or that was a great spike, like we're just focused on everyone's up great chris, do you ever find does this?
Speaker 1:if you don't, you probably watch uh sports on tv a certain way, but when you go to other events are you able to turn that off when you watch sports, or is it always a little bit like that?
Speaker 2:sometimes I I feel like when I'm watching, uh, just like in my own time, uh say, like the NFL recently, we watch games in such a different aspect that we're so behind safety that you know, like as a sports fan, you love that big hit but, in your mind you're like are they doing the right thing to take care of?
Speaker 3:this guy.
Speaker 2:So yeah, we definitely watch games and just a different safety and taking care of the athlete's mindset. That like we're looking at, like biomechanics, or we're looking at, you know, mechanism of injury, like Grace said.
Speaker 4:So we're looking at more of a deeper level of how we're going to treat them. If you know, anything occurs. Yeah, it's similar for me. When I go to games, I'm paying attention, like video boards and what are they doing, what kind of music soundtrack, all of those things, because we want to use some of that. I'm not really paying attention to Lamar Jackson breaking ankles yep.
Speaker 1:No, you're not even concerned.
Speaker 3:I will say it's nice for fantasy football because I know how long an injury should take to recover.
Speaker 2:I know whether I need to make the switch or not.
Speaker 3:We definitely get texts from family and friends where they're like so and so. Would you think they'll be back on Sunday?
Speaker 2:That's a big part within my fantasy football aspect. You know a couple guys would be like hey man, he looks like he's out for a week. He'll be good, I'm like listen, we understand what happened and you should probably sit him for a couple days, yep.
Speaker 1:That is so hilarious, that's good to know. Next year. I'm letting you know they're doing that, oh my gosh, yeah. Yeah, you're doing that to me now.
Speaker 4:I should have had Christian McCaffrey on my roster this year. I really could have used some insight. That was a lot of bad number one picks with that one, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:I always get a great kick out of not when it's serious, but when it's not as serious when you guys roll into action. I always think it's really fun. Chris, we were sitting in the gym the other day and I said it would be really fun to kind of shoot a video of you guys right when the moment comes, okay.
Speaker 1:And we were sitting in the bleachers and I said, Chris, there might be a chance here where you're going to have to be on the floor, but look, it's blocked. You can't get on and the only way for you to get to the middle of the floor is to take a single leap over that scorer's table.
Speaker 2:Yes, Could you clear it, I think, so we can go test it out, knights or Dykema got their super slow-mo camera.
Speaker 1:You jump over the camera. I think you slide in. When you see people, you go to that fanny pack camera. I think you slide in. When you see people, you go to that fanny pack. There's nothing there and you make eye contact with Grace. Grace goes in that run down to the end, picks something out of that fanny pack. The only way she can get it to you is to that long throw. Throw it in the air.
Speaker 1:Nice slow motion and the catch is made and everything will be just fine. That's how I see it every time you guys go out there.
Speaker 2:That soundtrack might play in my head next time something occurs.
Speaker 1:I mean, that's pretty much what it is. You know, all joking aside, I also actually am a very big fan of when you guys are in the moment that's a serious one the interactions you have with that student athlete. Can you talk about what you're doing right when you get on the scene and what you're trying to take care of with somebody?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean initially it's ruling out fracture, seeing how like is it an emergency situation or not? Can we get this person moved off of the plane surface or do we need to have them hang out there a little bit longer? Do a further evaluation. Those are the first things we're doing. We're checking avcs often. If they're crying and screaming, it's okay because they're breathing. So as much as like much like some people would be like oh my gosh, they're like it's an emergency. This is awful. I'm like sometimes they just need a minute to get things out, but you're just checking on them and letting them know that you're there, letting them know that we're on their time. Take a minute to breathe when you feel ready. I'll check out your joints, see how things are looking. Okay, feels good.
Speaker 1:Let's move you to the side and then continue the evaluation further yeah, I really appreciate the fact that you guys never rush and you know, just observing it from a distance, I mean you're really engaged with fact that you guys never rush and you know, just observing it from a distance, I mean you're really engaged with that, that with that injured player oh, yeah, definitely it like going back to what Grace said, the going out to the injured player like they're.
Speaker 2:They're at a point where they think you know I need to be quick, I need to get up, and we let them know like this is a comfortable time, this is your time, this game will continue as soon as we're able to kind of manage or find out what's going on with you. So so we give them that smaller amount of time that they need to make sure that they're okay to continue. But we do go through a checklist to make sure that you know before they're getting up and everything. We're making sure that by them doing so that they're okay to make sure that you know before they're getting up and everything. We're making sure that by them doing so, that they're okay to make it to the sidelines so we can do that further evaluation to find out exactly what's going on with them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you do a great job with that well, prepping for a game, you guys always have lots of stuff. If you're dry, bill has a golf cart around. Do you guys share a golf cart? Do you each have one?
Speaker 3:it depends on the day. Sometimes. If, like, one of us is working soccer and the other is at like lacrosse, we might have to borrow bills once in a while.
Speaker 1:Oh, sure, okay, yep, okay, but you have so much to do like? Do you ever have a situation where you're not prepped because, because you have what you usually have a bag on your shoulder. Do you have a fanny pack? Sometimes I have a shoulder bag. He took that as an insult. He did that's a sling bag, buddy.
Speaker 2:No, we have so much supplies for every situation, so maybe the general consensus is they have just tons of tape. That that might be.
Speaker 2:I mean, we do have a lot of tape there is tape but but we have splint bags, we have vacuum splints, we have airway um different. You know things to restart um the heart. We have an aed. Yeah, we have so much supplies that is brought from each place that that gets easier over time. But if you were to take a look at the equipment we have, you're like that's a lot of stuff.
Speaker 4:Yeah, they have that long extended cart with a sweet yellow seat for a reason, and we fill it every game day.
Speaker 2:Multiple trips for a football night. Oh my gosh To completion.
Speaker 1:So that's the public view of you yeah and now we got a whole other category too. This is now we're going to go to, where the kids see you whole different thing that's going on in the background. If you're at this high school every day you see it. Bill sees it. You know people that walk through the halls see it, but a lot of us parents don't. I've seen it because I've had kids in there. But let's talk maybe about the training room, the medical room, health care facility.
Speaker 3:You guys have turned that into a very comfortable, welcoming, safe environment yeah, um, I mean, one of the first things is like kids get to call us by our first names we're not mr or mrs, it's not mr ma'am, like it's your grace and chris you can call us grace and chris where it's a comfortable environment, um, and kids get comfortable quickly in it and it's something we appreciate because it lets us know that they feel comfortable with us and they trust us with their care, um, but they are in there the second that bell rings at 243, there's a line out the door and they are ready to get treatments, taping, rehab, get ready to go to practice and games and be on their way.
Speaker 3:But it's nice even to have the kids that just swing by pop in and they're like, oh my gosh, hi. And we tell kids all the time we're like you don't have to be injured to come say hi to us, you are allowed to swing by, you are allowed to hang out. Yes, there are times we're busy and we may ask you to just hang out in the hallway or come back in an hour or so, but it's.
Speaker 3:it's such a nice feeling to know that they're comfortable with us and that they trust us and that we're just able to be those people for some of them. Some of them just need a listening ear, outside of getting injuries treated and stuff like that, and whether it's they want to talk about what they want to do for college or things that happened at home or, um, oh my gosh, I didn't sleep anything like in the past two days. I'm exhausted. Can I take a nap on the back table with a hot pack? I'm like go ahead, I'll let coach know sleep.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I think it's a really beneficial aspect in the mindset of these student athletes is we're the first or like the only health care provider for them that's on site. So not only do we see injuries that happen at a game like, but something that happens at home. If, like Grace said, a listening ear where we can bring an athlete in and shut the door and they just need to talk, they need to decompress, they need to ask a question, that allows us to feel like a role model, which is nice to help them with. Hey, I'm struggling with classes, I'm a multi-sport athletes, so it's nice that we can, with our experience already going through that, be able to give some insights and just allow that comfortability and provide good care for them.
Speaker 3:So it's great and knowing that them, knowing that we have their back. There's outside pressures from coaches, parents, whatever it may be, college coaches where they're like I feel like I need to go, go, go, go go. And I'm trying to listen to my body and what's going on and it's like, if you need me to be the bad guy because this is bothering you, I'll take one for the team and I will let whoever I need to know that you need a day off. If you are in season during this sport, I will let your other coaches know like, hey, cut them some slack. They're dealing with this injury, they need some time to recover and they just feel pressured. So it's allowing us to advocate for our athletes and that's one of the biggest parts of our job is just being an advocate for them and letting them know we're on their team, correct?
Speaker 4:And you guys come at kind of the job, the profession, from a different angle than most of the other people that those that are student athletes interact with on a daily basis. Right there we were all education majors and went to school to become teachers and that sort of thing. What is getting and building those relationships with high school kids right who bring a certain energy about them? What has that done for you kind of in your profession? Maybe is like something you didn't really think about even when you went to, went into AT.
Speaker 1:Chris is still playing baseball at 32. He is.
Speaker 2:I can't stop. Yeah, it's, it's nice to to be engaged in my own sporting outside. But back to what you were saying, bill it's it's nice to develop these trust aspects between kids, that we have kids that come in and they don't know what they want for their you know, their next step within their career or what they want to go to school for. But they're so engaged and intrigued with what we do that they're always asking like can I shadow you? Can I, can I see what you guys do? I would love to do this. You guys help so many people.
Speaker 2:I feel like that's something that I would like. So it's really nice to just see the response back from these athletes too, saying, like we appreciate everything you do so much that we want to do that too, and that's just that keeps us going too. And that's just that. That. Just that keeps us going. That is literally the, the horsepower behind what we do on a daily, because we're we're reaching to kids in high school that want to do the same thing, which is nice. It's growing the career. But yeah, it's just it's. It's nice to have that trust based relationship that they're teach me what you do. I would love to do this for the rest of my life, so it's just nice.
Speaker 3:And working with them too. I think specifically these West, like these West athletes, are something else. They're so great and I mean getting to know them, having the relationships with them, getting to just be there for them, is so fulfilling, because that's what they need. They need someone that's there and we're there all the time. They we get calls, texts, emails, um, they come in and visit, hang out. We'll get messages throughout the day where they're like are you guys in yet can?
Speaker 3:I can I come see you and the energy these kids bring and the appreciation they have for what they do like makes it so much easier coming in each and every day, because you know that the kids truly appreciate you and they appreciate your help. And even though it may be a situation where you're holding them out on the sideline and they are upset and they are angry, the next day they come in tail between their legs and they're like hey, can I talk to you quick? I am so sorry, I was upset. You were just trying to do the best, uh, for me to keep me safe and sometimes it feels like we're parents to hundreds of athletes where they're like have you seen my jersey? I think I left my headphones in here. Where's my phone, do you?
Speaker 2:have any snacks.
Speaker 3:I don't think I drank enough water today. Can I borrow a water bottle? But?
Speaker 1:it's just so rewarding. I'm sorry. If we were to take a snapshot picture of what's going on there in the afternoon say it's 3.30 in the afternoon what different things would we see? What type of treatments would be done? What might that look like?
Speaker 3:Every table is full. Every table is full.
Speaker 2:Usually even off-season based, every table is full. Every table is full. Yeah, usually even off-season based, every table is full. There's a line down the hall. We got kids doing rehab, coming back from certain injuries to do with their sports-specific aspect of things. We're doing initial evaluations, trying to find out what's going on or if we think that it's something that needs to be referred for potentially. You know, fracture, that we have a good team physician, dr Block, who works in Holland as well, that we could have quick communication with. So we're doing all of that referring and kind of delegating. We do tape, we do a good handful of taping.
Speaker 1:The stereotypical. Yeah, that's why it's a stereotype, the things people expect.
Speaker 3:I mean there's coolers in the hallway for we're prepping for events, or the golf cart's being loaded. Equipment might be on tables or in doorways because we're working getting it out the door where it needs to be. There might be kids in the hallway doing rehab. There might be kids in the locker rooms doing rehab. Outside we use our space the best we can and then every table is full. In between tables are athletes doing stuff, rolling out, stretching. It becomes a triage clinic. The second two, 43 hits. We're trying to get kids in and out, get them what they need. Prioritize based on okay, you got to hop on the bus, like let's get you in first, we'll get you taped, get on out of here. Okay, you walked in on crutches, you're not practicing today. You can wait a minute till I get you a clear table and then just going from there. And then the second, about like four o'clock, hits. We either go into events or we get a minute to breathe and we're back in our office doing documentation stuff.
Speaker 4:Yeah, there's a tight window at 2.43. And then we have, you know, basketball games will start at four o'clock. Now winter is maybe a little bit easier because the at atr is right across the hallway from the gym. But when we get into the springtime and we've got tennis at four, baseball at four, softball at four, soccer at four, it gets rolling, oh yeah. And it's like everybody wanted their water at 230.
Speaker 3:Oh, 100% and we try. Sometimes, when we get in early, we're like, okay, let's just run waters out now, because there's no way we'll be able to get everything out with our equipments in time. Um, and then there's other days, too, where we're like, hey, it's 3 30 is the last time we can put an athlete on a table. True, because then we got to get everyone out clean, grab our stuff and get out to events. So we'll normally write in our door. We'll be like if you are not inside the store at three thirty, I am so sorry, but we will have to see you tomorrow.
Speaker 2:Just very fast paced. So we're we're trying to give each athlete the time and the care and a good plan of care you know that they need. But yeah, we're rocking and rolling and we're getting everybody in and out as quick as possible before we have to get out to the event. And then you know we're, we're ready for any situation out there.
Speaker 3:So we have crushed the nonverbal communication, while in the afterschool rush where we can just like give each other a look and the other person will like okay, yeah, I'll go do waters. I'll go do this. Hey, can you grab me this? And like we're not even saying a word, we're just looking at each other and we're like yeah, gotcha, okay, I'll go jump into that quick, yeah.
Speaker 1:Telepathic communication at this point, huh.
Speaker 2:Just the luck will do it Pretty much yeah.
Speaker 1:Do you get a? You guys do some really nice things and you had mentioned this earlier, but you have student trainers that come in. This is a cool program that's within West Ottawa, in West Ottawa. Can you talk about that a little bit, Chris? You want to maybe start us off?
Speaker 2:Sure, yeah.
Speaker 2:So throughout the last maybe year and a half this is un-high school related, I'll kind of transition over that We've been having Grand Valley students come first and second semester, coming over and spending almost every day with us. So they get to see what we do, the way we're treating athletes, the individualized rehab plans we're making, and that transitions over to high school athletes too that we found we have two at the moment that are with us, I would say maybe 10 to 15 hours a week. They're there for the afterschool rush, they're there for events, they're there for prep-school rush, they're there for events, they're there for prep. We're teaching them documentation. So it is so great to just see these kids coming and and wanting to learn what we do and we. We put them as part of the team too. So, like it you do, we give them maybe a week or so and and anybody who another athlete that has a question is like, hey, they are part of the team now, so that gives them a comfortable aspect to continue working with us and they're just building their skills.
Speaker 4:So it's really great to have it's going to really help set themselves apart from others who may be entering programs, and they're coming in with hundreds of hours of time already spent right yeah, our first student, um lily, reached out to us last fall and she reached out.
Speaker 3:I was just like I just want to observe some football, and then she was observing hockey and then she was observing soccer so she reached out to you she reached out to us and then summer hit and we're like we, we want to teach you more.
Speaker 3:you want to learn more, let's teach you more. So she came a couple days in the summer and we got her learning taping. We got her learning what's in our kits, what to grab in certain situations, emergency protocols, and then she worked all football season with us and just really bought in. She has an Excel sheet with all of her hours and everything she's learned throughout, so different skills. She's learned spineboarding with us. She's learned different tapings, whether that would be ankle, wrist, knee, achilles, um with all this, she could probably pick up an accounting minor first couple years.
Speaker 3:But it's just super cool to see because, like it's a difference between having a college student, like master's degree student, come out and you're a preceptor for them because they are assigned to you and they have to come out. It's part of their grade. These high school students, lily and Mariah, they have really bought in where they're like I want to do this and I want to learn more. And there's always those first couple of weeks of like trial and error where we're like you actually know what we do, is this actually what you want to do? You show them the good, the bad, the ugly, and then they're like yes, this is what I want to do.
Speaker 3:I am heavily bought in. This is exciting, teach me more. And they just want to watch us do our jobs and learn. And it's so exciting and we love teaching. It's something we're both really passionate about. So being able to just teach our jobs to these kids and help them look at colleges and look at different programs, look at different settings we're able to help them get in and observe different settings and then show them other opportunities as well, moving forward to just help them grow their love for athletic training.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, love for athletic training, oh yeah, and it's really great too that, uh, lily and Mariah both have talked about already looking into schools and and Lily is already applying to an athletic training program. It's, it's just so nice to see what we're doing is is really paying off, uh, for these kids and, like like Bill said, they're, they're developing skills that their first semester they may already have these fundamentals within athletic training and they're just going to advance with them throughout their high school or their college career.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so nice to listen to some very proud parents.
Speaker 3:It feels like that some days. We're like come on, kids, grab your bags. We're going out to the basketball games.
Speaker 2:We got a couple hundred kids.
Speaker 1:One thing that really actually shows and I think Bill kind of appreciate this as well is when we observe you from the outside, you guys have a really nice relationship, like when we see you in public space and interacting. It's very, very positive. Chris, can you talk about Grace a little bit? What makes it? What's nice about working with her? You know how do you guys balance each other out.
Speaker 2:Of course, yeah, so it's really nice to have both male and female athletic trainer at the school here as well. Some situations or smaller high schools you may only have, you know, you know one, but you have to treat athletes that are both male and female. So, depending on injury based or, or rehab, or tape or anything that you need to do, there's there's a barrier, that within healthcare, that it is so nice to have grace for the female population of things, and I just think that our dynamic back and forth since you know being here is is it's getting telepathic at this point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, by the way, for the listening audience, whenever one is talking, the other one is nodding with a smile on their face and it just keeps going back and forth Like uh-huh.
Speaker 3:Yes, I agree, yep, these are things we talk about like on a daily, like getting to know each other and talking about things we appreciate about each other. I mean, there's this dynamic in the office where it's almost like yin and yang, like where I may lack in something, he can pick up and take care of that and it's so nice. We like there's times where I may need to be a little more tough love of an athlete or they just may need more gentle approach to things, and his background too in the clinic allows, whenever we have to refer somebody to a urgent care, he's able to give them a kind of layout of what's going to happen when they get there, or why they should go to an orthopedic urgent care versus a normal urgent care. Or hey, we can treat this in-house and here's why, because you're going to go to the urgent care and this is what they're going to do and I can do that here and that's really exciting.
Speaker 3:And we both like playing different sports allows us to be able to talk lingo. So when I'm talking like test set, about swim, he's like what are you talking about? But like, when we get to more like baseball, hockey, stuff, I'm just like chris, help, like what are they saying? What are these terms true?
Speaker 3:and we just adapt from there. Cheer and wrestling is a different world for both of us, so learning those terms have kind of been team effort, effort but it's it's a nice dynamic and it's fun because, like we always have times where we're laughing and then there's times where we're able to check in with each other and be like hey, do you need a minute? You had a really rough day with that sport yesterday. There was a lot of injuries. It was really busy. Let me take something off your hand and if you have a vacation or I have a vacation.
Speaker 3:We can kind of swap things back and forth, um. But it's just really that relationship of like checking in with each other. We try to do that as much as we can, even if it's just 10 minutes. Once we're both in being like what do you need from me? What can can I take off your plate? Hey, do you mind taking this off my plate? Um and things like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's, it's really great to you know, say, uh, emergency situation or or types of things that you have throughout your day. It's nice to know that once you are able to complete that and things are okay, you still have your own personal aspect that you might need a second. So it's nice to have grace, to easily step right in and have the confidence and trust that things will continue on exactly if you were there as well. So it's nice that we both have the same mindset of taking care of the kids here and making sure everything's great. So, yeah, there are times of very seriousness, but also we get a good laugh in too. So it's comfy, it's nice.
Speaker 4:So you both spend a lot of time here at West Ottawa. Yes, there's a grind to it all, but you're both going through this. You're not alone. You have significant others at home who really allow you to chase this job and to chase this passion. Chris, we'll start with you. Maybe talk a little bit, give your significant other a shout out of course, bianca.
Speaker 2:Thank you, uh. Yeah, it's nice to have a significant other who understands you know, quote, quote this life, so like the long hours, the amount of time I'm at the school. But it's also nice too that she's been able to come and be on the sideline of a football game or I've had her at a baseball game and she just loves the environment. And it's so nice to hear afterwards that she's so, like, extremely proud and happy to see what I'm doing here that her support was already great with it. But the time that I may spend away from her and I'm here, she knows, we know what it entails and what I'm doing. So it's just, it's so much easier. It's a nice dynamic to know that you know full support by your significant other. So, yeah, it's great.
Speaker 3:I think my biggest thing is so. Evan is my high school sweetheart. We've been together over a decade and married for two years, so we really grew up together.
Speaker 1:Really yes.
Speaker 3:So we both played sports in high school. We went to different high schools. We lived far away. He was in Lowell and I was in Wayland, so it was about an hour drive in between. So we did the distance thing and that really helped us grow as people. And then when we got married, started living together and I'm doing a job where I am gone afternoon to evening and he's a blue collar worker, he's an electrician, so he does the early mornings to the mid afternoons or sometimes all day. So finding that time and that balance where he might have a little bit later of a night because he's coming to a game to just see me spend time with me, even if it's just standing on the sideline while I do my thing, yeah, it's date night, friday night football.
Speaker 3:But so it's so nice having that support from them, because they genuinely see that we love what we do and they want to be a part of it and they want to come visit. And the kids are hilarious when they find out we have significant others, because they ask a gazillion questions.
Speaker 1:They don't see you as anything other than what is presented to them on a daily basis.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, you guys are super busy. Thanks for taking the time to come in. You are truly appreciated here. Your positions are professional. They're highly skilled. It could be filled by a lot of people, but we are very grateful that they are filled by you, grace, and by you, chris. We couldn't have better people in your positions. And remember everybody we are West Ottawa, we are Chris. We couldn't have better people in your positions. And remember everybody we are West Ottawa, we are community. We are each other. One second, I think. I heard something in the hall you need a what you need a trainer Guys. I heard someone's calling for a trainer.
Speaker 3:We'll be right there. I hear that in my sleep some days.
Speaker 1:Thanks you guys, it's been a blast. Of course Thank you Thanks so much, appreciate it.
