In a Post-COVID World, The Adjustments of High School Athletic Trainers Keep the Seasons Running

Oct 31, 2021 6:00 AM PST

By Dexter Zinman

PHOENIX – Two football players approach the scorers table where Amanda Wilson is observing a game of volleyball. Masked, the three get up and walk over to a cooler on the gym’s sideline. Wilson quickly takes two ice packs and tapes them to the shoulders of the players, before heading back to her seat in case she is needed during the match. 

Wilson is the athletic trainer for Phoenix’s Central High School. Like all athletic trainers of the Phoenix Union High School District, she has had to adapt to doing her line of work in the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“It’s definitely affected the job,” Wilson said. “There are lots of different requirements and protocols that we’ve never had to worry about before.”

Working with the football players in such close physical proximity indoors is a newer protocol changed from the previous semester. Wilson has had to deal with ongoing protocol updates as the pandemic progressed. Some of what she had to adapt to last semester is no longer in place, causing her to have to adapt again.      

Central High School’s Athletic Director Evana Santee spoke about some of these older policies. 

“Last year we were doing [temperature] checks and pre-screenings,” Santee said. “We’re not doing those anymore, but now they are requiring other things.”

Wilson has always been committed to doing her job within the mandated protocols, despite the admitted challenges she’s faced doing so. 

“It’s definitely challenging if you’re trying to help a kiddo and you can’t get up close and personal,” Wilson said. “But as long as we are within the protocols that we have been mandated to follow then we’re ok.” 

Even with the challenges, Wilson has been in favor of the district’s protocols. 

“It’s working,” Wilson said. “It’s definitely doable.” 

Outside of her own experiences, Wilson’s contributions to getting Central High School’s season going have been recognized almost daily by players and coaches. 

Along with the occasional taped on ice pack, Wilson has had to help student athletes with injuries mid-game. She’s used muscle massagers to treat lingering injuries, all the while masked up, doing everything she can to keep her working environment safe. 

“She’s always wearing a mask. I’ve never seen her take it down,” Central volleyball coach Laura Phillips said. “Even outside on the football field.” 

Wilson’s role goes far beyond just administering treatment. She has also taken a role in making sure she has had to follow are known and understood by the people she will be working with.   

“I would say Amanda’s been a huge help for us,” Director Santee said. “There’s constant communication between her and I, and then constant communication with the coaches, and the student athletes and the families so that they understand what they’re getting into when the kids decide they want to play sports here.”  

Luckily for Wilson, and athletic trainers throughout the Phoenix Union High School District, a new round of protocols are being implemented for the winter sports season. 

“The Phoenix Union District is now requiring that coaches and student athletes have to be either fully vaccinated or have to test weekly,” Director Santee said.  

It is the district’s hope that this new policy, along with keeping students, coaches and viewers safe, will allow for athletic seasons to move even closer to normalcy. This includes student athlete interactions with the athletic trainer. 

The role of the high school athletic trainer has been highlighted more than ever before. Parents may not have even thought about the role they played in helping their childrens’ seasons run smoothly, unless their child frequently worked with the trainers for an injury.

Now, with student athletes having to get vaccinated in order to play in the coming weeks, and trainers like Amanda Wilson communicating with parents and students about the new protocols, their roles are becoming more and more recognized in the post-COVID world. 

Of course, for the coaches and athletic directors of the district, the importance of the trainers in navigating this turbulent time can’t be stated enough.