Intermountain Cassia Hospital Athletic Trainer Program Brings Medical Expertise to Student Athletes

To celebrate the work of certified sports trainers across the globe who bring vital medical expertise to the sidelines to help athletes at all levels, March has been designated National Athletic Training Month.

During the past four years, Intermountain Cassia Regional Hospital has partnered with Burley and Minico high schools in Idaho to provide certified athletic trainers to support student athletes in their sports programs. Players and administrators say they are aware of the key role trainers play in keeping students safe and prepared for competition.

“A trainer is an invaluable resource to have on campus for our athletes, and the difference is night and day” said Brady Trenkle, athletic director at Minico High School. “In the past, students might have to be out several days until they could get in to see a doctor to be assessed and cleared, but now they go right to our trainer who helps them immediately.”

While trainers are a major tool in the play book to keep kids safe and healthy, according to a 2020 report, they’re still not in place at 31 percent of high schools across the country.

It’s one of the reasons Seth Koyle, former Burley High School athlete and current Intermountain Health certified athletic trainer at Minico High School, was so eager to return to Mini-Cassia.

“When I played at Burley High School, I didn’t even know what an athletic trainer was,” said Koyle. “I suffered a torn labrum in my shoulder during football and no one really knew what happened, so I kept going until my shoulder started popping in-and-out of the socket during baseball season.”

Koyle says he finds a lot of purpose in his work knowing students will now have a place to turn when they’re injured or have questions. That drive is shared by his fellow Intermountain athletic trainer, Logan Parish, who covers Burley High School.

“Athletic trainers are about more than wrapping ankles and getting ice packs,” said Parish. “Our goals aren’t just to treat the injuries but to hopefully prevent them in the first place.”

Intermountain Health participates in an athletic training partnership program at 53 schools throughout Utah and Idaho.

About Intermountain Health

Headquartered in Utah with locations in six states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 34 hospitals, 400 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For more information or updates, see https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.