by Danene Bottiaux, sports editor
From pulled muscles, to injured elbows, ankles and knees, Bryan College’s Athletic Training Room can help with almost any injury,. However, raising the bar this year, Bryan has hired three new trainers, Scott Landis, Matt Dillard and Karen Brown, to assist the sports teams.
An athletic trainer is a certified medical professional who specializes in sports injuries.
The athletic trainers help teams get ready for practices and games by taping athletes, stretching them before events and other tasks. They bring water to games and practices to make sure athletes stay hydrated. Trainers also look out for injuries during practices and games.
After events, players can come for ice and assistance with any type of injury. If an injury is too serious for the training room, then a trainer will take the athlete to the Emergency Room.
Not only do trainers help with injuries, but they have other requirements too. There is plenty of paperwork to be done, insurance companies to be dealt with, along with keeping the training room clean.
Becoming an athletic trainer is not an easy task; there are many different requirements in order to be considered for an athletic trainer.
The minimum education needed is a bachelor’s degree. After school, a trainer must receive state certification before being able to start working with a sports team. Each state has different requirements for trainers.
According to the Tennessee Athletic Trainers’ Society, a trainer must first meet the specialized educational requirements and pass the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s Board of Certification. In addition, a trainer must meet the state licensure provisions of the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners.
“The biggest factor with athletic training is we do a lot of preventative work. We also help with understanding the importance of nutrition and hydration,” said Assistant Athletic Trainer Karen Brown.
Each trainer works with two specific teams. Head Athletic Trainer Scott Landis works with men’s soccer and men’s basketball, his “two favorite sports.”
Assistant Athletic Trainer Matthew Dillard works with baseball and volleyball, while Brown works with women’s soccer and women’s basketball.
Landis, who is from California, received his undergraduate degree at Point Loma Nazarene University (Point Loma, Calif.) and went on to San Jose State University (San Jose, Calif.) for graduate school. Along with receiving those degrees, Landis also went to the National Holistic Institution for massage therapy and is now a licensed masseuse.
Brown, who is also from California, went to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for three years and heard about Bryan through the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. The NATA posts openings for jobs and through that medium, and Brown and Dillard heard about the opening at Bryan.
Dillard is from Dayton and completed his undergraduate study at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He went on to get his master’s degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.