By Annie Phun

Editor in Chief

Approached by an athlete complaining of back problems, Alec Carmona, Gabrielino High School’s new athletic trainer, tells him to lay down in order to assess the problem. Finding its root, Carmona assigns the athlete a carefully devised workout routine, advising him to take a break from training and giving him a couple of stretches to do daily. The athlete will meet with Carmona every day until Carmona deems him ready to return to his sport.

  “The best part about being an athletic trainer is seeing an athlete play again after recovering from an injury that I’ve been working on with them for weeks and seeing them at full strength again,” stated Carmona.

  After graduating from Oregon State University, Carmona took a job with a contracting company called Advantage, through which he found out about an opening at Gabrielino. During the interview process, he was offered the job on the spot. He replaced Alicia Vessey, Gabrielino’s former athletic trainer who left in order to fill a position at Maranatha High School.

  Despite this position being his first official job, Carmona has had three years of experience working with National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division One football teams and four different high schools in Oregon. He hopes that his years of training will allow him to restore Gabrielino’s injured players to their full health.

  One of Carmona’s brightest moments so far at Gabrielino was when freshman Vicky Lam, a volleyball player who he had been working with for months approached him bearing a gift and saying that she felt perfectly fine to play again.

  “Alec’s patient attitude towards rehabilitating athletes makes him a great athletic trainer,” stated junior Amanda Brunjes. “He also uses a special airgun to massage athletes instead of his hands like Alicia did, so that’s a new experience.”

  Brunjes, a varsity level basketball player, went to Carmona with a torn ligament in her right ankle a few weeks ago. By completing daily strengthening exercises and applying multiple ankle wraps, she has been able to step back onto the court and is expected to make a full recovery.

  “My biggest challenge is the fact that I’m the only athletic trainer [at Gabrielino],” explained Carmona. “It’s a huge difference from colleges where they have dozens staffed and over 30 student athletic trainers to help.”

  Hired in August, Carmona plans to stay until further notice. Although the transition was difficult, he is up to the challenge and looks forward to working with every season’s athletes in order to help them return to full strength.

  “Gabrielino’s community has a family aspect to it. That’s hard to find in my field of work,” said Carmona. “Everyone looks out for each other, and everyone respects me and my decisions.”