Green Level Fall Athletes are in the midst of a long, competitive week. Six Gator teams are currently state-ranked, including Women’s Volleyball 1st, Men’s Soccer 12th, Women’s Golf 22nd, Women’s Tennis 3rd, Men’s Cross Country 11th, and Women’s Cross Country 7th.
This week, Men’s soccer, Women’s tennis, and Women’s Volleyball all have three matches. While the other ranked teams have one game apiece this week.
When the JV teams are mixed in with the Varsity matchups, the sports medicine team will be stretched thin. Fourteen of the twenty-one JV and Varsity matches are at home this week, meaning the Sports Medicine staff has to work to ensure medical coverage at every game.
Athletic Trainer, Mrs. Strickland says, “This week is especially hard because we have to also give coverage to our cross country team’s meet at WakeMed, 30 minutes away, on top of everything on campus.”
In addition to the games, “We also have to give coverage to the football practices,” says Strickland.
Green Level has four trainers who can fill in and give medical coverage to different games, making this manageable. Most high schools have one or two athletic trainers.
“As trainers, we have to make sure we plan ahead, communicate, and that everyone knows where to be and when,” says Strickland.
Trainers help athletes both recover and prevent injuries. Every day after school, the medical staff is met with a wave of athletes visiting the treatment room to get evaluated for injury, as well as doing stretching and strengthening exercises.
“On average, we are seeing about 10-20 people per day for treatments,” says Strickland. “We prioritize the players who have practices or games they have to get to and help them first in order to allow them to be where they need to be, and then filter through everyone else.”
For many athletes, injuries are starting to pop up around this time of the season.
“Having multiple games per week, in any sport, is going to prevent a challenge in terms of injuries. As we are getting into week 6, this can really wear on some athletes,” says Strickland.
Athletes juggling high-intensity games in such a short stretch risk chronic injuries like muscle strains. With limited recovery time between games, injuries are more likely to last longer. Making careful management and scheduling is crucial for athletes’ performance and health.
The Athletic Director, Colin Fegley, and coaches work together to prevent this problem as much as possible.
Fegley says, “Sports scheduling varies widely. Conference games are always set in stone about a year before by the conference, and we get no say in it. Out of conference games, however, we get a lot more wiggle room. The coaches and I work together to create a quality schedule. We try to avoid as many three-game weeks for teams as to allow athletes to take care of their bodies, especially when some players might be playing club sports at the same time. In some cases, we can avoid multiple games in a week, and in others, we have to have three-game weeks.”
Strickland says, “Our coaches do very good jobs on giving their team rest days, and lighter practices when there are multiple games in a week to prevent injury.”
High athletic achievement standards and success across multiple sports require the effort and collaboration of the Athletic Director, the coaches, and the sports medicine team.
Now, as the Green Level Fall sports season intensifies, player health will remain a top priority. Having six top 25 state-ranked sports teams reflects the commitment and determination of not only the athletes but also the dedication and teamwork of the sports medicine staff, the coaches, and the Athletic Director. Success at Green Level does not happen alone.
