C.O. high schoolers learn athletic training

Dozens of Central Oregon high school students learned what it takes to be an athletic trainer on Thursday. The Center Foundation held a class where instructors showed basic injuries, how to treat them, and what kind of careers are available.

Summit High School soccer player Jordan Collinsworth said she’s had her fair share of injuries. It inspired her to volunteer as an athletic trainer’s assistant, where she’s already helped at football games.

“Mitchell Parks got his back thrown out, and I was trying to help him calm down, looking at where his points of pain were, and trying to get ice on it,” Collinsworth said.

Students partnered to do everything from dilate, to feel how joints move, to wrapping each others arms in splints.

“I want to be somewhere in the health field, helping people, because I’ve participated in athletics most of my life,” said Bend High junior Nicolai Spring.

“Hopefully along those lines,” added Mountain View senior Erik Siefken. “I think this is a good foundation to build on.”

Athletic trainer Emily Schleicher says students have many options. Most of them will take certifications or medical school, in addition to a bachelors degree. But she says in the end, she believes it’s worth the payoff.

“Do what you love,” said Schleicher. “This is something that I’m passionate about. I love athletics, but I also wanted to be in medicine.”

For Collinsworth and her classmates, the class was an opportunity to find out how they feel about the health care field.

“Achievement, I guess,” she said. “You’re just like, ‘Wow, I just helped this person.'”

The Center Foundation pays for an athletic trainer at many Central Oregon high schools. They cover most sports, and there’s usually an orthopedic surgeon on hand for many athletic events.