In the stands on a Friday night, people might look onto the football field wondering who those three or four girls are running around taking care of the team. They happen to be Athletic Trainer Vince Sinovic’s right hand girls. If Sinovic is busy with another task, the assistants are to the rescue. Just like every other sports team, these girls attend football practices to learn new things and work hard all summer.
The trainers for the 2013 football season are Senior Lizzy VanDeCar and Juniors Tina Davis and Casey Prell.
This is Davis’s second year as a trainer, and to say the least, she loves helping out and feels as if she is a part of the team. “I feel excited [to help the team] because I want to be in the health field and get more background of the human body. I came back this year because I love helping and learning a little more every year,” Davis said.
The other two trainers are first-year assistant trainers, and like Davis, VanDeCar decided to help the team because she will be attending college to obtain a degree in some aspect of the medical field.
Prell just started her assistant athletic training on Sept. 13. “I decided to be an assistant trainer because it is something that has interested me and I might want to pursue. I’m really liking it because I like learning new things and helping people,” Prell said.
According to VanDeCar, the girls have learned how to wrap or tape an athlete’s injury, which is one of the most common needs for the athletes. During the summer practices, you could find the girls riding around on a golf cart with Sinovic. Most of the time they would ride the cart in order to carry ice for other injuries that may have not needed special attention. In VanDeCar’s opinion, the Friday night football games are the best part about being an assistant trainer.
During a game, the girls always know exactly when the boys need water. According to VanDeCar, when the athletes need a drink, they simply scream for water. The girls are happy to take the boys some fluids because when performing such physical activity, water is in need.
The football players are very thankful for the assistant trainers. Without them, who would be there to hydrate the boys after a tough play?
“If it wasn’t for them, we would be dehydrated, and they inspire me to be better everyday,” Senior Jordan Gaus said. The assistant athletic trainers are a wonderful aspect to Friday Night Lights, and at the next game, try to watch what they do and how helpful those girls really are.