Most sports fans can recognize the star players on any team. They’re the ones who have the cameras pointed at them.
Like other professions, athletes rely on people behind the scenes to keep them healthy. Those people — the athletic training staff at the college — will never receive the advilation the athletes get, but that doesn’t mean their impact isn’t appreciated.
“Our staff and facilities are awesome, we have some of the best facilities if not the best in the conference.” said Alison MacDonald, assistant medical trainer for Mesa State athletics.
“The program is improving every year, there’s a real passion from the students in the program to be involved,” MacDonald said.
The athletic training program has seen enormous growth in the last 10 years. It moved into its current facility in the Maverick Center in July 2009. It received its Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Program (CAAHEP) accreditation in 2002, and currently maintains a Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) accreditation. The program itself boasts a diverse collection of potential degree fields ranging from physical therapy to working with  professional sports programs. But theres more to this job than taping ankles.
“I think people involved in athletic training have to be up for the challenge, we’re here extra hours daily its a big time commitment,” MacDonald said.
“Athletes depend on you for more than just trying to make them better physically. You see people 2-3 times a day. Relationships are established with the athletes, we’re not only there for advice on how to get better physically, they confide in us, they trust us. It’s almost like being a psychologist sometimes, you see some athletes that are tired of being hurt and want to quit, it’s up to us sometimes to keep them motivated to wanting to get better and that if they put in the time and work they will get better.”
“The staff is great, they really do a good job. It’s busy all the time in there but they do a good job of making sure you get treated,” said cheerleader Kathleen Goddeyne.
Currently the Mesa State staff works only with NCAA sanctioned sports, although plans are in the works to add a trainer for club sports.

chughes@mesastate.edu