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FCHS Athletic Trainer Tyler Golden provides medical care and support for the many athletes performing at school. Whether it’s treating common injuries like shin splints or helping with recovery from more serious conditions, the athletic training program helps keep student athletes healthy and improve their overall performance.

Golden gets many students daily in his office asking questions about injuries. “I would say probably five people, on average, come to get ice. I would estimate 10-15 a day come for tape, Band-Aids, or to get something wrapped. On an average day, probably five people come to ask me about an injury,” he said.

As part of athletic training, students can get many different treatments and evaluations for sports-related injuries. Here, Golden performs an ultrasound on a student’s arm, which helps to identify muscle injuries. “The gel was really cold, but I thought it was really cool that you could do an ultrasound on a muscle,” said senior Vanessa Vandevander.

One common part of athletic training includes wrapping injuries to prevent any strain. “I usually get it wrapped once a week on our meet days. It helps to stabilize my knee when I run,” said junior Lacey Rhodes. When you get something wrapped, it helps to reduce swelling and improve circulation.

Vandevander gets her wrist wrapped to reduce pain and swelling. “My wrists have been messed up for most of my life. Whenever I do sports that involve lots of wrist movement, I get them wrapped to lessen the pain,” she said.