by Asami Nelson
The Sports Medicine Club at Reedley High has been an important part of the school’s athletic programs since 1987. The club not only learns about the different injuries athletes may sustain during play, but also the methods which they undergo in rehabilitation and physical therapy. Students are provided with the opportunity to gain practical experience by assisting after school at the athletic training facility with the certified athletic trainer.
Sports Medicine team at the 2019 AACI competition
Sports Medicine students have provided the school with numerous awards and achievements, as they have won Firsts in the annual Career Skills Challenge over the past 15 years. If they have not earned a First, they still expect to be in the top three. Every year, students earn the top honor award during the Tiger Romp competitions held at Reedley College since it began seven years ago. The club has placed in the top five in the AACI California Regional HS Sports Medicine competition in seven out of the eight times they participated, winning a First twice. Students also worked hard to compete in the National AACI Sports Medicine Competition with awards in third place once, fourth place twice, and fifth place once. They have never scored lower than eighth place. Numerous students also earned the award of AACI All-American designation to highlight their efforts.
Reedley High School’s 2019 Sports Medicine team in the regional Career Skills Challenge
Senior Alex Lu, who is in his second year of being on the competition team, comments, “My experience in sports medicine is well spent and I’m glad to have been a part of the club. I have met people of all sorts whom I’ve never thought I’d be friends with. In the club, I also have had fun and the best moments of my high school career in competitions and team bonding. My hopes for this year’s competition is to get to the top in Regionals and place first. As a team, I hope we all aim for the top 25 places and place first in the Anatomage competition.”
Kirby Kauk is the certified athletic trainer, who originally began the Sports Medicine Club program in 1986; he is also the club advisor. He describes the club as, “an integral part of what I’ve done here over the past 30+ years. It has allowed many students to go well above and beyond what they learn in the classroom. We have a large number of alumni who have gone on to become highly successful medical professionals, many of whom are now colleagues and/or advisors to our program.”
2019 AACI Anatomage competition
He has great expectations for this year’s competition team in the spring. “I expect our team to do well. If the students put in the proper effort preparing for it, I am confident that they will be among the top placers in all of the events that we participate in. Hopefully this year we will be a national finalist team once again. We have a serious chance of being in the top five again, as we’ve done several times before. Hopefully, we can be national champions.”
You can find many more Reedley articles in our Reedley News category, including two more in this week’s issue!
Good job, Asami!