BEAUMONT, Texas –National Athletic Training Month may have come and gone without much fanfare, like the way athletic trainers do their jobs of tending to student-athletes with little to no recognition.
 
"Those of us in the profession are very passionate about what we do," Lamar University head athletic trainer Joshua Yonker said. "You put a lot of work in for someone else to be able to play their sport. We don't do it for the recognition."
 
Yonker noted that the role of the athletic trainer has evolved over the years. To that end, LU is changing the name of the department from athletic training to athletic medicine.
 
"Athletic trainers aren't always seen as medical professionals, but we are," Yonker said. "We have to be licensed, and we are supervised by a licensed physician. Athletic trainers are the experts in several areas including injury prevention, first aid and rehab."
 
Dr. Curtis Thorpe, an orthopedic surgeon, oversees the LU athletic medicine department.
 
"Dr. Thorpe is an invaluable asset to the department. I rely on him a lot," Yonker said. "One of his goals is to have a primary care physician on campus a few hours each day for our student-athletes."
 
Currently, LU has three full-time athletic trainers and nine graduate assistants for LU's 17 varsity sports. Yonker said as the profession continues to evolve, he hopes LU will eventually have nine full-time trainers and three interns.
 
"Athletic training used to require a bachelor's degree, but it's transitioning to require an entry-level master's degree," Yonker said. "The traditional GA will go away. I think it's an exciting time for our profession."
 
Fans usually only get a glimpse of athletic trainers when they come on to the field to tend to an injured student-athlete. However, that is only a tiny part of what an athletic trainer does.
 
"Most of our work is done behind the scenes," Yonker said. "They don't see the hours of rehab that goes in to getting a student-athlete ready to return. People think that happens automatically. I'm thrilled when I see a student-athlete put all of the effort into rehab and then coming back and being successful."
 
Because of the nature of the sport, football has more acute, traumatic injuries than other sports, but each sport has its own requirements.
 
"You may not have as many acute injuries in other sports, but you still have concussions, broken bones, sprains and muscle injuries. We also have to be aware of dehydration, especially here in the heat of Texas," Yonker said. "Every sport is different, and we provide the best care to each student-athlete."
 
With a greater emphasis being placed nationwide on concussion awareness, LU has a concussion management policy in place. The policy, which was updated in late April, covers education, baseline testing, evaluation, returning to learn and returning to competition.
 
"Not only have we given a baseline test to all our student-athletes, even the mascots have been tested in case they fall and receive a concussion," Yonker said. "It's something we take very seriously."
 
Yonker said his department works closely with the strength and conditioning coaches when it comes to rehab.
 
"The final phases of rehab take place in the weight room," Yonker said. "Coach (Daniel) Darcy and his staff do a tremendous job."
 
For the athletic medicine department, the goal is not based on wins and losses, but on the health of the student-athlete.
 
"Of course, our job is more fun when we're winning, but that's not our main goal," Yonker said. "We work with the athletic medicine departments from the other schools. We'll bounce things off each other. It's not a competition We'll help each other when it comes to taking care of the student-athletes."
 
So, the next time you cheer on your Cardinals, whether it be at baseball, football, tennis, basketball or any of the other sports, take a minute to think about how LU student-athletes can compete at the highest level of college athletics thanks to the athletic medicine staff.