91调教

Written By: Ian Silvester

The fabric of athletics is fast-paced, intense, and sewn with raw emotion. Athletes are trained to get back up when they get knocked down. Still, cries of frustration or pain sometimes signal that they just can鈥檛. In times like that, it鈥檚 the team behind the scenes that ensures athletes get back on their feet. 

For 14 years, the man leading the behind-the-scenes team at the 91调教 鈥� Fort Smith has been Brian O鈥機onnor, director of sports medicine. 

鈥淭he long-running joke in athletic training is that we tape ankles and hand out ice packs, but there鈥檚 more to it than those basics,鈥� O鈥機onnor said. 

From the moment an student-athlete gets hurt to when they return from surgery, if one is needed, O鈥機onnor and his staff are there for every step, he said. Their goal is to help every student-athlete who enters the athletic training room find a way back to the court or field at the same level they left it when injured. 

He said the moment a player returns is worth all the effort put in by the student-athlete and by O鈥機onnor and his staff. But not every return goes as planned. 

鈥淭imelines are timelines; they鈥檙e not set in stone. Just because the goal was to run at six weeks, it could be seven or eight weeks, and that鈥檚 okay. It doesn鈥檛 mean you did anything wrong; we all heal differently,鈥� he said of the rehab process. 

The key is to build up the small victories, O鈥機onnor noted. 

鈥淭hat first day that they get to jog after a surgery, celebrating that, or hitting those check marks of progression and making sure they understand that it鈥檚 a long process. Sometimes you have a setback or two, and those are really hard days, but you鈥檙e also going to have those wins along the way,鈥� he said. 

Helping an student-athlete treat both the physical injury and the mental side effects that come along with it is paramount for O鈥機onnor. A former student-athlete who experienced injuries himself, O鈥機onnor understands the toll an injury takes when it forces a player to spend time away from the team. 

鈥淭heir circles are kind of small because they have their team and their coaches, and that kind of becomes their friend circle. So, if they鈥檙e not practicing and they鈥檙e not playing games, they kind of lose that identity, and that can be really hard on them,鈥� O鈥機onnor said. 

He said that even if it鈥檚 just the first 10 minutes of practice that a player can be with the team before getting back to work in the training room, it goes a long way toward helping them return to the game.  

To help every student-athlete return to their respective teams, O鈥機onnor employs his preferred methods of athletic training. He uses functional-based exercises to mimic the forces each player will feel on their specific injury as if they were playing. O鈥機onnor also teaches them about their injury. 

鈥淚 try to spend time, not just telling them things to do, but explaining why we鈥檙e doing it and explaining what their injury is. It鈥檚 easy to just say, 鈥榃ell, you rolled your ankle,鈥� but to pull up a picture in a diagram and show them the muscles and tendons and ligaments so that they can visualize why it hurts, I think, is important for them to grasp what it is that鈥檚 injured,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think that can help them understand the recovery process and why we鈥檙e doing what we鈥檙e doing.鈥� 

O鈥機onnor said this is part of the evolution of athletic training away from the misconception that taping ankles and handing out ice packs is enough. Today, it鈥檚 about preventing, diagnosing, treating, evaluating, and rehabbing injuries. 

O鈥機onnor was inspired to pursue a career in sports medicine after his own athletic injuries and by seeing how much goes into getting a player back to full strength and keeping them playing. He received his bachelor鈥檚 degree in health and human performance from Iowa State University in 2009. While pursuing his master鈥檚 in higher education administration at the University of Nevada, he worked as a graduate assistant for the university's football team. 

Although he loved his time working with student-athletes at the Division I level, has been the most fulfilling school at which to work, O鈥機onnor said. 

鈥淭he competitiveness that our teams have had over the years has made it fun to be around,鈥� he said, proudly. 鈥淏ut also the people. We鈥檝e had student-athletes from all over the United States and several different countries that I鈥檝e been fortunate to interact with, which is very fulfilling to me.鈥� 

That competitiveness O鈥機onnor touts wouldn鈥檛 be possible without him and his team working to keep student-athletes healthy and ready to compete every day. They are just as important to winning and success as coaching, schemes, and the talent on the court or field. 

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