American International College has many student athletes who from time to time need care at the clinic. The college has several high-risk sports that require at least one trainer in all their on-field practices to assist the athletes if necessary, since the chances of something happening in those sports are much higher. A great example of this is the football team. In addition to risky sports like football needing a trainer on the field, all other sports must have a trainer there every time they have a home game.
AIC currently has only one trainer, JJ Pignataro, who must comply with all the things mentioned above and still be in the clinic to attend those athletes who need to rehabilitate an injury. Pignataro must attend to those who go before their practice to get tape, and also be there to attend those who visit him after their practice. Therefore, there are too many tasks to accomplish for one person alone and that is why this situation is already a problem at the athletic center.
During the preseason, AIC had three trainers working at the athletic center with plenty of responsibility between them. AIC has a lot of athletes; just on the football team alone, there are more than one hundred athletes. Now that there is only one trainer, the situation is even worse.
Three different student-athletes shared their experiences in AIC’s clinic.
The first athlete, Victoria Mendez, told us that when she was about to play, she wanted to go to the clinic ahead of her game to get some heat pads for her shoulder. When she got to the clinic, it was closed because the only trainer that the school has was in the field where the football team was practicing. When she was warming up for the game, she injured her shoulder, and the only trainer in the gym was other team’s trainer. “I felt that if the clinic had been open before the game, it would not have been so serious,” Mendez said. “I also did not feel comfortable that a trainer who was not mine was treating me because he did not know about my injury.”
Another student athlete, Ali Taleb, forward on the men’s soccer team, shared how he sees the clinic. According to Taleb, “I have had a great experience with JJ. However, it’s not hard to tell that the system in our office is a mess. JJ, who is one of the most hardworking people I know, has been trying his best to help all athletes in the school. This should not be solely his job. It is unheard of any school only having one trainer, let alone a division-two athletic focused school. JJ needs help… The athletes need the help too.¨
The last athlete, Claudia Flores, shared her experience with the athletic training facilities. It started with her experiencing some pain in her shin splints. Flores went to the AT’s after practice and the trainer checked her and told her to come back the next day to be treated. The next day came and when she went back, it was full of the women’s soccer team. She saw the trainer helping every girl by himself while also working on the computer registering student athletes. ¨I felt ignored,” Flores said, “but at the same time, [I] felt bad for the trainer having to do everything and get to everyone.”
Revisiting previous stories and thoughts about the lack of trainers in the athletic training facility, it makes obvious the fact that the school needs to hire qualified people for the job because this scenario where the AT has only one trainer cannot continue.
