Inside the training room: no normal day

Mofi Oladipo, Reporter
May 27, 2019

“There is no normal day.”

Lea Vandergrift and Jordan Bartal are the Hershey Athletic Trainer’s. When an athlete gets injured they are out on the field no matter where they may be to assess the injury.

By 12:30 the High School trainer is in the building and ready to go. She talks to Scott Govern, the Hershey High School Athletic Director, then she sets up the water and all the stuff for the away teams, minimizing their jobs.

Vandergrift said, “Kids come anytime that door is open.”

The Lacrosse team has multiple members who have had to see the trainers. Both trainers helped all these members get healthy enough to play in the district game, and the trainers went with the players to the game on May 23, 2019. (Broadcaster/Mofi Oladipo)

The chaos starts when the door is open, kids come flooding in and the hardest part of the job starts.

Jordyn Bartal, the middle school trainer, said, “There’s probably about 40 students in the high school training room, and 20 in the middle school.”

It gets crazy when you fill a small area with teenagers Vandergrift said. Only having one person have to watch over and take care of 20 plus kids is a big job.

Bartal said, “It’s hard with new injuries, because you have to do a full evaluation on them, you have to learn to diagnose what’s in front of you.”

Vandergrift, the high school trainer, has the task of getting 40 plus kids out of her room and to their practice and game as on-time as possible; additionally, Vandergrift said, “When away teams come in, we are responsible for them as well.”

For the last two years these trainers have come accustomed to a routine. They both help where needed. They make sure to get to the fields or gyms to check on recently and previously injured players and assess how they play and if the should be playing.

Barrel and Vandergrift are doing a good job according to the athletes.

Junior Lacrosse captain Elijah Duck said, “They always been there, any injuries anything else, they created a personal relationship with us”

The trainers do an excellent job during all three sports seasons, and are always here to help the students and coaches of Hershey High School and Middle School.

Govern said, “They’ve been wonderful since we’ve had them; the kids adore them, and the coaches love them. We have been blessed to have them in our district.”