Harvard Trainers Keep Athletes Healthy

Although the common image of an athletic trainer is wrapped up in endless rolls of ankle tape, the reality is quite different. The athletic trainers of 20 years ago--who rarely prescribed anything but rest and ice--have given way to highly trained professionals whose responsibilities include rehabilitating injured athletes and giving advice on physical preparation.

"The athletic trainer used to be sort of a mystic figure who learned training from someone," says B.J. Baker, trainer for the Harvard mens' soccer, basketball and lacrosse teams. Now the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) has established a curriculum for trainers, and most universities--including Harvard--require their trainers to complete the NATA program.

To earn NATA certificates, Harvard trainers, who work in Dillon Field House, must complete an undergraduate curriculum in physical education or sports medicine, spend 1200 hours under a trainer gaining clinical experience and pass a certification exam. In addition, the trainers must accumulate six continuing education units during every three-year period, by going to lectures at conventions sponsored by national trainers associations.

Lacrosse coach Scott Anderson says the changes have improved training rooms. "When I was at Dartmouth, [the graduated in 1973] they weren't as technologically advanced nor as skilled," he says. "The comraderie was there, but not the professionalism."

Harvard trainers also benefit by comparison with English trainers, known for their "magic sponge" treatments, English athletes say. "At home they bring out a bucket of cold water, and whatever's wrong, they wipe the spot with a sponge," soccer player Nick Gates '91 says.

High tech equipment has taken the place of the magic sponge in Harvard's training room. The Dillon Field House facility is one of a handful in the country with its own X-ray machine and technician, Baker says. In addition, trainers can prescribe ultrasound and electrostimulating treatment or rehab work on a new $35,000 CYBEX isokinetic machine, which regulates resistance as athletes flex injured joints.

The new equipment has accentuated the professionalization process. Machines like the CYBEX "require expertise because they're electrical, and if used improperly, people could be injured further," head trainer Bill Coughlin says.

These machines have allowed trainers an active role in rehabilitating injuries which once could only be treated with rest and ice. The trainers and Arthur L. Boland, the Athletic Department's head surgeon, discuss students' injuries and decide how the training room can best treat them.

"Emo [football trainer Dick Emerson] worked closely with Dr. Boland, consulting to put together a rehabilitation program," says football player Bryan D. Gescuk '88. Gescuk has spent about two hours a day stretching and strengthening his right knee since he tore several ligaments in October.

One reason the trainers can be helpful to the physician is that they get to know the players on a day to day basis. Every day players come in with blisters and minor muscle pulls. "With a small team like [women's] soccer, I see 90 percent of the players regularly," for taping or icing, says trainer Kathryn A. Smith

The daily taping and communication builds strong relationships between trainers and their teams. Each season, every trainer is assigned one contact sport as primary responsibility and another team which requires less attention. For instance, Smith travels with the women's soccer team in the fall, but in the training room she might also tape the ankle of a cross country runner.

Because of the constant association, trainers feel close ties to their teams. Paul Baverstock '90 says Baker, his trainer during the soccer season, "was really a part of the team. Nobody was as upset as B.J. when we lost."

The trainers say making athletes feel at home in the training room is an important part of their job. "At the freshman football meeting we ask them all to come in to see the facilities," says Coughlin. "I distribute a questionnaire which I urge them to return to me. If they returned it to the managers, they wouldn't have to come in."

To make athletes comfortable, the trainers maintain a relaxed atmosphere in the training room. "Emo kept a friendly relationship with all the players," says football player Tony M. Consigli '89. When students talk about their social lives, Emerson joins in, Consigli says. "They start talking about the night before, and he rags on kids for it. I wait for the day when we find out something about him."

The good relationships between the trainers and their teams make the trainers willing to put in extra time for individual players, athletes say.

Gescuk says that when he was unable to go in for treatment in the afternoon, "the trainers were willing to come in early on Saturday mornings; they're really dedicated to their players."

Hockey player John C. Weisbrod '91 had a similar experience during rehabilitation. "Emo'd drive all the way over late at night, with his little daughter and a box of doughnuts," Weisbrod says.

Although players praise the trainers for their attentiveness and expertise, some athletes and trainers point out limitations of the training room.

Trainers say they are often unable to go out to team practices because they have such a large backlog of taping to do. As a result, Smith says she wishes "more grad students interested in being trainers helped us out with daily taping and routine treatments."

Athletes say they have trouble getting access to the training room's modern equipment. "Sometimes I have to wait because other athletes are on the CYBEX," Gescuk says. And Smith, who is the trainer for the track teams this season, says "If there's anything I would complain about, we need more equipment for the number of athletes we have."

Athletes also complain that it is difficult to get an appointment with a physician. In the fall, Boland comes to the training room every day, but in the spring he only sees athletes on Wednesdays. Smith says this is because the fall sports produce more injuries. "Contact sports have to take more attention," she says. "That's where the liabilities demand us to be."

Each year between 1980 and 1985, varsity and freshman football accounted for 175 "time loss" injuries, which force a player to miss a day of practice, while men's lacrosse, the most accident prone spring sport, averaged only 39 a year Coughlin says.

Whatever the numbers, the policy frustrates some athletes. One athlete, who asked not to be identified, says "I was supposed to see Dr. Boland this spring to get final clearance, but I never did because the line was quite long. It sometimes takes two or three hours."

The problem is particularly acute for students on the rugby teams. Although rugby's spring season produces a high number of injuries, the team is not officially recognized by the Athletic Department, so injuries to rugby players are not included in the department's planning. "Sometimes our players won't get in as quickly or get as much attention as they want," says rugby player Vaughn J. Buffalo '89.

Although the training room is primarily a place for medical attention, some athletes say they go there for other reasons. "It's the social center of the team," says women's soccer player Tenley E. Stephenson '91. "In the fall, it's a total pick-up scene."