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Adding Sports Trainers Subtracts From HS Sports Injuries

67 views · Published 21 August 2015 · 1:56 · Indexed 22 October 2026

Channel: Lee Health · 2015 · Science & Technology

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It’s not meant to be the school of hard knocks, but studies find high school sports programs without access to full-time athletic trainers have more injuries. And just only half of schools nationwide have one. To level the playing field, Lee Memorial Health System is providing three new sports trainers, creating a team of 7 to work with Lee County’s 13 high schools.

“So each of us has two schools and we go to those schools every day to cover practices, do rehab, treatments, and anything they might need,” says Jessica Pasternack. 

Jessica Pasternack works with North Fort Myers High. A certified athletic trainer, her background includes injury prevention, physiology, nutrition and first aid.

“We’re always looking to make sure that they’re using proper technique or doing things correctly and not overdoing stuff,” says Pasternack. 

It’s also a learning experience for the coaches.

“It’s not our field of expertise, you know. So having someone here to talk us through everything gives us a heads up on where kids are at; what kind of injury they have and what the process is,” says Earnest Graham, who is the head football coach at North Fort Myers High. 

Up to now, most of the focus has been on game day. But with enough full-time trainers to go around, the goal is to get them in the field and on the field during practice. 

“You do tend to see more stuff happen in a practice versus a game because you’re learning new things,” says Pasternack. 

Playing head’s up football, much attention nowadays is placed on concussions. As a local football star who went on to the NFL, it’s something Coach Graham knows well.

“I do take it personally. And that’s the reason we make it a point to teach proper tackling. You don't want kids to lead with their head and you want to respond when you have a situation where a kid may have some type of head injury,” says Graham. 

Breaking bad habits and learning good ones, athletic trainers are helping teen athletes play it safe. 

View More Health Matters video segments at leememorial.org/healthmatters/

Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of medical care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For nearly a century, we’ve been providing our community with everything from primary care treatment to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries.

Visit leememorial.org

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