Life on the sidelines

"After attending every practice, these students will never see any game time. They’ll never throw for a touchdown, or make the winning shot. They spend the majority of their time on the sidelines watching the action as it unfolds. Yet these students are an integral component of Mustangs Athletics.

These are student trainers.

They gather in a Thames Hall lab on a Monday afternoon and sit eagerly listening to coordinator of athletic therapy services Rob Walsh. Today’s lesson: compartment syndrome and how to properly recognize it. Yet in this class, the importance of taking notes is not only to ace the course, but also so they can better treat Western Mustang athletes.

“It’s part of an injuries program that they’re in,” Walsh explains. “It’s sort of a stream within kinesiology, so it’s not like a volunteer thing, it’s part of their program.”"

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