Have you seen those signs out in the hall telling you to join the Sports Medicine Club? Most of you probably don’t know what the club is. Here is an inside look of the Sports Medicine program!

The definition of Sports medicine is “Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise” according to Welia health. You will learn all of this and more in the Sports Med club!

Starting off with the head athletic trainer, Matthew Norton ATC, LAT, is a certified athletic trainer! He has been an athletic trainer at Collierville High school since 2015, and Collierville was also the first school he’s ever worked at. Matt’s favorite thing about the job is working with the athletes and the coaches. For his certifications, he has his Bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training, and his license to practice in the State of Tennessee. In addition, Matt is also certified in CPR and AED. Matt didn’t realize he wanted to pursue a career in athletic training until his sophomore year in college at MTSU. His favorite sport to work is football because he grew up playing and watching the sport since he was a little kid. He even did a summer internship with the Rams! Matthew has a daughter, Rosalie, who is 7 months old.

Next, is The Assistant Athletic Trainer, Victoria Jenkins, MS, ATC, LAT. She has been an athletic trainer at CHS since July 2022. Before working at Collierville, she worked in an orthopedic clinic in Knoxville where she also worked part-time at Webb School of Knoxville, ECS, and Lausanne. Victoria has her bachelors in Exercise Science, Master’s in Athletic Training and is also licensed to practice in the state of Tennessee. She is also CPR and AED certified. For these degree’s, she started at ETSU then transferred over to MTSU for her undergrad degree, then UT Chattanooga for her masters. She has lived in every major city in Tennessee; She even grew up in Knoxville! In high school when she was in the sports medicine club, she thought she wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon. After her first semester of college, she realized that she wanted to major in athletic training but didn’t know if she wanted to give up medical school. She eventually decided after taking a year off hat athletic training was the way to go! An interesting fact about Victoria is that she has 2 golden-doodles and a rescue lab. As an athletic trainer, you can meet a lot of people. One of Victoria’s experiences was that she worked at an International Gymnastics Camp where she met multiple Olympic Gold Medalists. Even though meeting cool people is always fun, her favorite thing about the job is forming relationships with student athletes as well as helping them recover from their injuries and getting back to their sports.

Our amazing athletic trainers want to give you a few reasons on why sports med can be beneficial to you! Matt thinks people should join Sports Med to learn more about the medical field, to gain experience with sports medicine, there is also networking opportunities! Victoria explained that it is fun, students will learn what athletic trainers are, how they interact with athletes, coaches, and parents. She also believes that the club brings student life skills as well. They learn interpersonal skills. Including the importance of communication and time management. She included, “I’ve seen with just this year alone students becoming friends with different groups of people that they possibly wouldn’t have interacted with otherwise.” She also expressed how athletes also benefit from the club members being around to help. She voices that herself and Matt couldn’t be more grateful for the help that the club members provide. As well as the opportunities the girl give them to teach about the profession that they love.

Some of the club members were interviewed to show their views on the club as a high school student. So, first is Ashlee Halley, who is a sophomore and has been in the club for almost a year now. Ashlee is not planning to become an athletic trainer, but she is taking the medical pathway, so sports med is a great way to learn more about the body. She says that the athletic trainers are very nice and flexible with schedules, so you are still able to enjoy other things as well. Ashlee’s favorite sport to work with is football because it is the most interaction that the club covers with sports. She also mentions football is very time consuming, but worth it. When not with football, Ashlee’s favorite thing to do in the club is rehab on athletes. Ashlee thinks people should join sports med to extend your knowledge on the body and certain injuries.

The next member is Tailar Lewis, she’s a sophomore she’s been in the sports medicine club for a year. Tailar is planning to be a nursing anesthetist; the sports med club teaches her more about the body. Her favorite thing that she has learned is taping thumbs, which happens to be her favorite thing to do. Her favorite sport is wrestling, because of blood time. During blood time, an athletic trainer and club members go out to clean up blood and make sure the wrestlers don’t have blood on them anymore. Tailar thinks you should join sports med because it’s a great way to learn new skills and learn more about the body no matter what medical field you are planning to succeed in. The advice for newcomers that Tailar gave was come as much as you can to get most out of the club!

I am also in the club; I’m a sophomore, I’ve been in the club for about a year. In the future I plan to become an athletic trainer. I love taping ankles, it’s my favorite thing I’ve learned in the club. My favorite sport to work is football because it comes with a lot of ankles to tape. I think people should join the sports medicine club because you are able to learn new things. The club is a great learning opportunity, also it’s very hands on. One thing that I would like to make clear about the club is that it is very time consuming, but it’s also a great way to spend time! I honestly don’t know what I would be doing with my time if I weren’t in sports med. I love that I can take new skills home with me just about every day.

Next is one of Juniors in the club, Campbell McKinnon, she’s been in sports med for 2 months. Campbell also plays volleyball for the school and a club team! When Campbell was asked if she wanted to become an athletic trainer she said “Not necessarily, I am interested in sports medicine. I want to obtain a doctorate and then pursue sports medicine.” She likes taping ankles and doing rehab with fellow athletes. Campbell thinks people should join the club because it’s fun, interactive, and informative. More advice from Campbell would be work hard and try to learn as much as you can while apart of the club.

 Last is the club’s senior, Allison Hulen, she’s been in the club for 2 years. When Allison first applied for the club, she was interested in athletic training, but then realized she wanted to do physical therapy. Which the club has taught her a lot about from learning new rehab exercises and ways to treat certain injuries. Her favorite thing that she has learned in the club is how to set up stem and game ready. Her favorite part about the club is the environment! Allison thinks joining the sports med club is a great opportunity to learn about sports injuries, rehab, and what athletic trainers do in general. Her advice is to put yourself out there, don’t be afraid to learn new things and try it on the athletes. You’ll learn better when you put what you’ve learned into action.

After an inside view on the Sports Medicine club, Athletic Trainers, and Club members, we hope you truly consider picking up an application from room D224!