Saying a special thank you to area athletic trainers during National Athletic Training Month

Athletic director Mike Scheffel calls it a signature moment in the history of Coastal Christian athletics. 

It wasn’t winning a state championship or having an athlete break a school record. The moment Scheffel was referring to was when the athletic department decided to hire athletic trainer Jen Taginski. 

“When we made the decision to have an athletic trainer on campus for all practices and games, it was one of the single most important decisions that we’ve made as an athletic department in the recent years,” said Scheffel, who also serves as the boys soccer and girls basketball coach.

Taginski’s impact was felt almost instantly, as she was able to immediately respond to a dislocated ankle and a torn ACL during her first two weeks on the job.

“There wasn’t any question as to her need and worth after that,” Scheffel said. “We would have been calling 9-1-1 for the cheerleader with the dislocated ankle, but Jen was able to stabilize it and immediately had a call into the orthopedic. The cheerleader was in their office within an hour and had surgery the next morning.”

That story is one of many about the importance of athletic trainers. In a time when sports injuries seem to be occurring more frequently, having a trainer on site is invaluable. They often get overlooked, so it was important to me that I shed some light on their significance before March came to a close.

That’s because March serves as National Athletic Training Month. So from all the players, coaches and fans, here’s a thank you to this great group of athletic trainers … 

Ashley: Sadie Thomas Ragen

Cape Fear Academy: Scott Glickauf

Coastal Christian: Jen Taginski

Hoggard: Jonathan Barkman

Laney: Kristen Thacker

New Hanover: Matt Triche

North Brunswick: Josh Sierra

South Brunswick: Kayla Fields

Topsail: Suzie Harris

West Brunswick: Mackenzie Crowell

When Wilson Helms was hired as the football coach at Ashley last March, his top priorities were meeting his players, staff and athletic trainer Sadie Thomas Ragen.

“When I got here, Sadie and I hit it off right away,” Helms said. “She does such a great job with the kids and has great standards as far as an athletic trainer goes in terms of getting kids back out there and making sure they do everything they need to be doing to keep themselves healthy.”

Helms and Ragen talked every day during the football season and that helped their relationship become even stronger. 

“I think you have to treat your athletic trainer just like a coach on staff, because they are doing a lot for those kids,” Helms said. “In my meetings next season I’d like to have her there for a little bit. She could go when we start breaking down the offense and defense and talking about things like that, but I’d like to have her there at the beginning. I think a lot of times she sees and hears them in a different light and I think listening to her talk about that stuff could help us get closer to them as coaches.”

Sophomore running back Jaxon Jones was on his way to a 1,000-yard season when his season was cut short by two games after suffering a broken lower tibia and fibula during practice.

He credits Ragen for helping him recover. When the spring season was suspended, he was nearly back at full strength and ready to compete in track & field.

“A good majority of my physical therapy was stuff that she suggested I do in order to strengthen my leg back up,” Jones said.

The injury allowed Jones to spend a lot of time with Ragen and he was able to see firsthand how much she cared for all the athletes at Ashley.

“One thing that she does a really good job of is focusing on all the athletes,” Jones said. “She doesn’t just focus solely on football players or baseball players or basketball players. She’s really even with the way she does her treatments and she’s not biased at all.”

Brett Hickman just completed his second season as the football coach at his alma mater West Brunswick and each season has featured a different trainer.

Megan Hardy spent 16 years as the school’s trainer before stepping aside prior to this school year to focus solely on being a guidance counselor. Mackenzie Crowell took over and continued the excellent care Hardy provided for so many years.

“Behind the head coach and the strength coach, the trainer might be the third most important position in your program,” Hickman said. “Not only in terms of the health and well-being of your kids, but also to make sure coaches are abiding by the rules and doing right by the kids as well.

“It takes the onus off us to make those difficult decisions, because we aren’t professionals. That’s not what we went to school to study and I’ve been very fortunate the last two years that I’ve had two really good ones. I’ve leaned on them a lot during games and practices.”

The Trojans didn’t have many players miss games in the fall and Hickman believes a lot of that good fortune had to do with how they treated injuries.

“Mackenzie and I talked every day before practice about if a kid was full go, limited or completely out,” Hickman said. “If we had a running back who was banged and bruised up, he would try to get as much limited work in as he could when we practiced offense, but when we went to defense he would be on the stim machine getting an extra treatment or getting iced up because we didn’t want him standing around for an hour doing nothing. I think that helped us get our kids ready to play by Friday night.”

I’ll conclude this story by saying I’m lucky enough to be able to walk the sidelines at sporting events and see firsthand how important athletic trainers are. I’ll also admit that I’ve never stopped to thank them for what they do.

If you’ve made the same mistake, let’s make sure to correct that once sports resume.