August 8, 2014 at 3:54 p.m.
Aspirus, Ministry donations help fund school district's athletic training program
Aspirus, Ministry donations help fund school district's athletic training program
For the 2013-'14 school year, the district used Marshfield Clinic as its sports medicine provider, however this year the district will employ Eric Prom as its athletic trainer, making the position a part of the district staff for the first time.
During the check presentations Wednesday, Superintendent Kelli Jacobi thanked both medical providers, while explaining the importance of having a trainer on staff.
"We want to thank Aspirus and Ministry for helping us hire our own athletic trainer to work with our students. We're thrilled that we could work together as a team, a community team that collaborated to make this possible," she said.
"We are able to use the funds, and what we always put in, to fully fund the program. Neither group was able to commit the full amount. It's tough times for everybody, and that's why we went to a collaborative approach ... and everybody was very open to that."
"We had to find help from the community to make this possible, because there is no windfall. The district didn't all of a sudden have the money to fully fund this," she added.
Not only do the student-athletes need a trainer to help them heal during the unfortunate situations when injuries arise, trainers also help students with tips for preventing injuries.
"We need an athletic trainer in our district, ... we have to keep our kids safe. They have to learn the right way to do training activities," Jacobi said. "We need somebody that can help if there is a problem - that can do a quick assessment - and tell us what we need to do, send a referral for rehab, communicate with parents and the medical community. It's just a key piece."
Having a trainer on staff helps expedite that process, she said.
"I think there are a lot of pros. Just being able to supervise in district and getting (Prom) the supports he needs. He's not trying to contact supervisors out of town like when he was working with Marshfield," Jacobi said. "They did the best they could, but we found that there were problems ... and we want to keep our kids safe and keep them active and that's why we chose to go this route."
Kent Jason Lowry, an orthopedic surgeon with Ministry Medical Group and the volunteer medical advisor and team physician for the district, agreed. He said trainers play a crucial role in keeping athletes healthy.
"A trainer plays a very central role around helping identify the injury and helping guide return-to-play issues," he said. "As the injury gets identified, (the athlete) gets evaluated by a provider and then are brought back into the athletic environment."
Keeping student-athletes safe is key, but keeping them active is just as important, according to district officials. Jacobi said there is plenty of data that proves students who participate in sports and other activities do well in school.
"Athletics and cocurriculars are so important in keeping kids engaged in school, that it really all works together. We know that kids that are part of teams and groups outside of the school day are much more likely to be graduates," she said. "Our goal is to encourage more kids to participate, but we want to make sure they are doing it safely and not getting injured and if they are getting injured, having the appropriate care for them, whatever that needs to be."
Aspirus Regional Clinic Director Robb Fabich said the decision to donate the money was an easy one. The collaborative effort between the two medical providers and the district is beneficial for all involved, he said.
"Health care systems have been trying to support this program over the last several years, but the school district decided to take a different approach to maintain the program and they decided the best way to do that was to bring it in-house and employ the athletic trainer," Fabich said.
"Between Ministry and Aspirus, we thought how could we best help to maintain that program and make sure that the kids that are on the field get the care they need and we decided that a contribution from both the organizations in town would make that possible. It's just our way of contributing to the program."
Lowry said the goal of the two medical providers is to keep safe, on and off the field.
"I think they were wanting to be part of a community-based effort that allowed the school to achieve its full potential around this issue," he said.
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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