By Keya Nijhawan
Rolled ankles, skinned knees, hurt knees, blisters, and a fall on the head. If you can name an injury, I have gotten it, and the Lovett trainers have worked on each and every one.
All of these injuries led me to wonder what is on the other side of things. What is it like to treat athletes? What goes into it? What is it that everyone doesn’t see?
These questions led me to badger my new best friend Libby about letting me start a student sports medicine team. However, I went to Libby at one of the busiest times during the spring season, so I decided to make an actual plan on how to make my idea come to life.
I found out that once upon a time, there was a Student Sports Medicine Program that trainer Beth Garret ran. She explained to me that it ended because students were not willing to put in the odd hours, and most student programs have a sports medicine class paired with it, so students know more. Since Beth was not going to be at Lovett for the years to come because she was retiring, I knew there were more people I needed to talk to to make my idea come to life.
My own journey in the training room began in 7th grade when I broke my ankle. The minute I was out of my cast, Jeneka was there to help terrified little me in every step of rehab. It’s what allowed me to return to the soccer field so quickly, but little did I know I’d be back soon.
After my first ankle break, I continued to have ankle issues in the years to follow, which I blame on my dad’s bad ankle genetics. Due to these issues, I had to continue rehab in the training room on both my ankles to strengthen them, but I was still able to play through the pain.
Sadly, bad ankles were not the last of my rehab in the training room; in March of 8th grade, I tore my ACL, MCL, and meniscus. This moment marked my 12th month rehab journey to get back on the soccer field. For the first couple of months of rehab, I worked with the Emory Hawks Center, and later, once school soccer season began, I switched to the Lovett trainers.
Here, Libby worked with me to learn how to sprint and re-learn cutting maneuvers. She also placed a large emphasis on evening out my quad strength in order to avoid re-injury.
Not only did Libby work with me in rehabbing my knee, but she also helped me through my mental struggles, as I was having a tough time with no soccer for 12 months. Although Libby and I had our differences when it came to me wanting to do more than I was ready for, I owe a lot of my strong recovery to her.
My return to playing did not last long as I got nerve damage in the back of my other knee and lost movement in my foot, and it felt as if I was walking on burning hot pebbles all the time. Libby was able to help me regain motion in my foot again, which allowed me to play with some discomfort, but once again, this did not last long.
Soon after my return to play, I got a concussion during a game, and my poor judgment led me to play in another game the next day, which led me to get a double concussion. This concussion recovery lasted around 6 months and led to my diagnosis of POTS. Once again, Libby helped me every step of the way.
With all of those experiences, I didn’t want to let go of my interest in sports medicine, so I ended up emailing the Athletic Director Adam Nelson, and he directed me to Coach Brenzel, who is the US PE chair. So, I scheduled a meeting with her, and she explained to me that even though it’s better to have a class to coincide with hands-on training, she said it could still be possible if I could get the trainers on board.
I knew this was going to be difficult because the trainers have a lot on their plate and might consider having more kids in the training room as more of a hindrance than a help. So, I decided to wait for school to end and text Libby again in the summer.
When I reconnected with Libby, there had been some staff changes, so she was much more open to my “help” as they went from 4 trainers to just 2.
On my first day at “work,” I learned my way around the supply closet, discovering all the different sizes of tape (I didn’t realize there were over 2); I spent what felt like hours learning how to rip tape(it was actually impossible); I made sure all the kits had epi-pens; and I had my first “consult” meaning I watched Libby do a consult because legally I am not trained to do one. But I still did guess the cause of the student’s knee pain: tight hamstrings.
In the days to come, I stocked up the bomb (not a real bomb, no worries, it is like a massive box full of anything anyone could possibly need during a football game).
Of course, before letting me loose on the sidelines, Jeneka and Libby gave me a rundown on what to do in common situations. In most games, I tape a lot of bleeding arms and legs, and to Janeka’s pleasure, I finally learned how to rip the tape.
In one JV game Liddy and I did early in the season, she asked me, “Keya, what would you do if I passed out,” and my response was, “Watch you fall.” I got a very disappointed look. It was about 90 degrees, and Libby was concerned about people passing out. I am happy to say that I think I have grown since this moment.
In the past few weeks, I have been working with Alyssa, Janeka, and Chris on the sidelines of the football games and have been in the training room every day after school, taping blisters, teaching rehab exercises, and restocking the tape drawer.
My hope is to continue to gain skills, knowledge, and experience and build relationships. Upon speaking with the trainers about what I am doing now, Janeka explained to me that she thinks what I am doing helps students get a foundation in sports medicine and orthopedics. Athletic trainers do more than just tape ankles; they work with doctors on rehab plans and diagnoses and so much more, and students can have a chance to work under them and “learn what we really do,” she said.
