Islanders celebrate National Athletic Training Month

Written by Tristin Connolly, Assistant Athletic Trainer

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Do you ever wonder how our Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Islander Student-Athletes can stay healthy during a long competitive season? Athletic trainers are the ones behind the scenes insuring that our student-athletes are ready to perform to their best abilities. Athletic trainers are health care professionals who collaborate with physicians to provide preventative services, emergency care, clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions. You can usually spot an athletic trainer on the sideline wearing khakis and a polo. The Islanders Athletic Training Staff consists of seven full time Athletic Trainers.

Jerry Hilker, ATC, LAT, MSEd came to the Island in 2005, where he served two years as an Assistant Athletic Trainer. In 2007, Jerry became the Head Athletic Trainer working with primarily men's basketball. Jerry is originally from Nebraska, where he obtained his Bachelors of Science from the University of Nebraska before moving on to get his Masters of Science at Northwest Missouri State University. Before coming to the Island, Jerry has worked in a variety of different settings- he was an Assistant Athletic Trainer at Florida State University and worked with semi-professional ice hockey, and arena football. Jerry handles all the insurance claims and paperwork, which can be very time consuming. Jerry believes that "Athletic training is a lifestyle of educating others in prevention and care of injury. The clinical practice of this career path is a unique service oriented profession. In my clinical setting, I am involved with the student- athlete "patient" from the beginning of the initial injury to return to play which is not seen in any other medical profession."

Sho Arai, MS, ATC, LAT, CES, CSCS is in charge of keeping our men's and women's tennis teams healthy as they strive to break new records. Sho is originally from Saitama, Japan, but his love of baseball brought him to New York where he played Division III baseball as he studied to become an athletic trainer at SUNY-Cortland. He has also had many unique opportunities to gain experience as he has worked as an assistant athletic trainer with the Tokyo International University working with the men's soccer program, internships with the New York Collegiate Baseball League, and was a graduate assistant athletic trainer at Texas State working with the Bobcats baseball and track and field teams. Sho is constantly researching and taking courses to provide the best care for his student-athletes. This year he has also taken on the responsibility as the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the men's tennis team. Sho has been part of the Islander Athletic Training staff since the fall of 2014.

A native of California, Tristin Connolly, MS, ATC, LAT, CES started working with our Islander baseball team in the fall of 2015. Before coming to the Island, she worked as a graduate assistant athletic trainer at McNeese State University where she obtain her Masters of Science in Exercise Physiology and worked primarily with their football and baseball teams. Tristin obtained her Bachelors of Science at Fresno State, where she assisted with a variety of Division I athletic teams. Tristin shows compassion and care for each student athlete and knows that sometimes you not only have to rehabilitate and care for an injury; but care for the student-athlete as a whole. Tristin believes that all the long hours and days are worth it when she is able to help a student athlete get back on the field and help them achieve their dreams. Tristin was nominated for the Intercollegiate Council for Sports Medicine Staff of the Year in 2018.

Hannah Sutton, MED, ATC, LAT has been in charge of our Islanders women's basketball team since joining our staff in December of 2017. Before becoming an Islander, she spent five years working as the Head Football Athletic Trainer at Southern Arkansas University. Hannah earned her masters of education in Kinesiology from Stephen F. Austin State University in 2011, where she worked with the Lady Jacks softball team. After obtaining her masters, she worked as an outreach athletic trainer for Huntsville Memorial Hospital serving the Huntsville High School. Hannah is very passionate in mentoring and educating student athletic trainers. Some of her proudest moments in her career are having former students contact me later in life thanking her for helping them becoming the athletic trainer that they are today. She said that it is very fulfilling seeing it come full circle.

Kelly Ericksen joined our staff in fall of 2017 working with volleyball, beach volleyball and golf. Kelly has worked in a variety of different settings in her 20 years in the profession. She has worked at Southern Oregon University, which is also where she received her Bachelors of Science, Morehead University and at a chiropractic office and outreach athletic trainer. To Kelly, athletic training is a profession that she has loved for more than 20 years that has kept her on her toes with all the new ideas, products and athlete's culture. She has seen multiple places in the US, meeting interesting people and helped a variety of athletes through injuries, school and family crisis, relationships, etc. Those success stories is what makes it worth it to her to be an Athletic Trainer.

The man in charge of Men's and Women's Cross Country and Track and Field is Chace Anderson MPE-AA, ATC, LAT. This is his second year on the Island. Chace graduated in 2017 with his Master's from Idaho State University, where he assisted with football, women's soccer, tennis, and women's volleyball. Chace obtained his Bachelors from Weber State University. Chace also interned with a semiprofessional soccer team during the 2015 season. One of Chace's proudest accomplishments is getting his first job at a Division I university. His ultimate goal is to become a Head Athletic Trainer at a Division I school and feels like getting this job is a step in the right direction.

The newest addition to TAMUCC Athletic Training Department is Cayce Marlatt. Cayce graduated from TAMUCC's Athletic Training Education Program in May 2018. She started working for the athletic department in the Fall of 2018 as a PRN Athletic Trainer. As of February 2019, Cayce became a full time Athletic Trainer working with Softball and Soccer. In Cayce's spare time, she likes to relax on the beach. The most enjoyable part of being an Athletic Trainer for her is building a good rapport with the student-athletes.

March is National Athletic Training Month, this year's slogan is "Athletic Trainers are Healthcare." Athletic Trainers at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi provide the highest quality of care for all athletes. Athletic trainers are usually the first to arrive for practices and games and the last to leave. Most of their work goes unnoticed by the majority of the population. The appreciation for athletic trainers should go beyond the month of March, the work of athletic trainer is done all year long. Take time out of your day to show your appreciation to our hardworking, dedicated Athletic Training Staff!