Ben Blotner
Senior Sports Writer
An issue that has received an increasing amount of attention on campus is the fact that club sports teams do not have access to athletic trainers, rendering their athletes unable to receive the proper physical care they require.
Gabe Gerry ’19, president of the men’s Ultimate Frisbee team, RamJam, is particularly passionate about the issue and teamed up with ice hockey club President Leonard Wine ’19 to discuss it with administration.
“We had discussed with [administrative coordinator Darlene Piper] and [Director of Student Activities Julia Zimmer] the lack of access to club sports trainers, and we were told that only varsity athletes were allowed to receive help,” Gerry said.
Gerry also mentioned that RamJam and the women’s Ultimate Frisbee team, Betty Gone Wild, recently took part in a fundraising tournament called “Wobble Gobble Woo” in which participating teams were required to have trainers. The team reached out to multiple trainers and none were willing to do the job. Head Athletic Trainer Tom Love said, “Due to our limited staff we are unable to provide coverage for our club sports.” Associate Head Athletic Trainer Nate Huston, who was also contacted, replied with, “Due to the schedule of varsity events scheduled for that weekend, I am not available and do not believe any of our other full-time athletic trainers will be either.” Love and Huston referred the teams to other local trainers, but these trainers were also unwilling or unable to assist the athletes.
Gerry said there is a “big disconnect between club sports and the training room,” as the athletes are not only refused help from training personnel, but are also denied access to training room facilities such as the ice bath, despite no need for supervision.
Love gave a statement on the role of the department, and also the fact that their training staff is amongst the smallest in the NCAC.
“Our job description and our protocols are specifically designed to take care of varsity athletes. There are many issues dealing with club sports that have not been discussed. We have the smallest training staff in the NCAC, and we simply do not have enough staff to deal with club sports athletes,” said Love.
“While their main priority is the care of varsity athletes, the athletic training staff does provide basic care for any student,” the Wooster Athletics website says of the athletic training department.
“Kids get hurt all the time and don’t receive the help they need,” Gerry said. “What would be the problem with bandaging a kid [who was severely injured]?”
Nat Davis ’19, captain of the Wooster Scottish Nationals, The College of Wooster’s Quidditch team, echoed the dissatisfaction.
“When we’ve hosted events, we’ve typically sought health and safety services from certified EMRs (at an average of $200) who are unaffiliated with The College. U.S. Quidditch (USQ), our governing body, has higher standards for player care than The College of Wooster, so we go the extra mile and abide by those codes whether the College has our backs or not,” he said.
Morgan Barnett ’21, treasurer for the Quidditch team said, “We would have to move the money from another place, most likely from another tournament, had it gone through [hosting a tournament at Wooster]. It was definitely what we planned to play to have that trained official, which is required by USQ for, at the very least, all official tournaments.”
Gerry, in his first season as president of RamJam, has brought to the team a new emphasis on weight lifting, exercising, stretching and other activities that get players’ bodies ready to compete. Many Ultimate Frisbee players have not been playing sports for their entire lives and thus need to be especially careful. “My brother is a personal trainer, but not everyone is that lucky,” Gerry pointed out. “It can be tough for people who are just becoming athletes; their bodies aren’t used to running around exercising all the time.” It is entirely possible that the lack of proper physical care could be holding some students back from joining club sports teams due to safety concerns, especially if they were previously not athletes.
One step in the right direction being made by administration is the waiver forms that club sports participants are required to fill out this year. The safety regulations for club sports are becoming more closely aligned with those of the NCAA, which could soon provide an opening for such organizations to receive access to the care they need.