Student athletes have a variety of resources at Glenbard South. One of those include the athletic trainers, Jess Erwin and Anna Messmore. The Athletic Training Office can be found in the basement in the same hallway as the boys’ locker room and weight training room. Student athletes in any type of pain should go to the office anytime after school to get evaluated by either Erwin or Messmore. Athletes are able to receive taping and bracing, heat, ice, Cryotherapy, manual therapy, massage, dynamic and active stretches, injury prevention exercises and E-Stim therapy from the athletic trainers.
With each of these services the passion of both Erwin and Messmore is evident. They obviously care about each and every athlete and will always follow up on injuries. When asked why she wanted to become an athletic trainer, Erwin responded with, “I believe I knew I wanted to become an athletic trainer by the time I started my senior year of high school. I was a club gymnast and had chronic back injuries that held me from moving up levels in the sport for quite some time. I had to complete physical therapy and miss several competitions throughout the years because of it. Once I found out what an athletic trainer was and what their job entailed, I was hooked. I knew I wanted to help people and the fact that I could watch sports at the same time was a double win in my eyes. Once I knew I was not able to pursue gymnastics in college I channeled my energy into the student athletic training club at my high school and helped out as much as I could. The head athletic trainer at my school guided me into finding the proper college that met my needs and goals and I could not be more thankful that I had someone like that to go to in high school.” When asked about what she loves most about being an athletic trainer, Messmore stated, “What I love most about being an athletic trainer is after working with an athlete who may have suffered from a serious injury and seeing them play at their fullest potential without any setbacks from their injury.”
The athletic trainers at Glenbard South go above and beyond to assist every single athlete that walks through their doors and will always be a friendly face in the building. Messmore and Erwin are definitely welcoming and will be more than willing to assess any injury or pain that student athletes may have. Next time you are in the athletic training office be sure to thank Jess and Anna for all of their hard work.