For the first time in five years, students with the Yelm High School sports medicine program will travel to Northridge, California, next week for the 23rd annual California Regional High School Sports Medicine Competition, set for Sunday, March 16.
All participants in the regional event will compete in two events, including a medical specialty test and a mini-quiz knowledge bowl, and a team of the students will compete in an anatomage anatomy challenge.
The 12 Tornados making the trip to Southern California are Sydney Chamberlain, Kyara Fitzpatrick, Kyla Hall, Janessa Holbrook, Sophie Hurschler, Trissani Madigan, Destiny Mathews, Sophia Minnick, Lucy Mohrweis, Kijika Rosen, Maddy Sapegin and Rio Slevin.
“It’s a great opportunity for the kids to be able to compete and take their knowledge and skills, which are incredibly well-rounded, to a location besides our state competition,” Gary Clinton, YHS sports medicine teacher and instructor, said. “They’re great kids. They’re incredibly motivated, incredibly community driven. They love to not only learn but serve our community in different ways — not only on the athletic fields but in the different things we do community service-wise.”
Yelm students will compete in three divisions — novice, intermediate and advanced, depending on their sports medicine experience. At the conclusion of the event, the top five participants will be announced for each division and school.
The total trip costs between $900 and $1,000 per student, Clinton said, but due to strong community support and active student participation in fundraising, members of the YHS Sports Medicine program will pay just $100 for their entire time in California.
“We’ve done a lot of fundraising this year, and over the years. A lot of the money is carried over, and the kids don’t have to pay much at all,” Clinton said. “We are so incredibly fortunate with the diversity we have in our CTE (career technical education) programs and with our district and the support we’ve had. Every one of our students that graduates from our high school has had exposure to these classes that have got them to think about what they want to do after they graduate. I’m so thankful to work in a district where there’s a lot of priority in student choice, and what they choose to do after they graduate.”
Clinton said the students will test on different subject areas at the California competition, which he believes broadens his students’ horizons when preparing.
“We’ll end up having 13 of those sessions where the kids come in an hour before school starts, two days a week, studying and reviewing to prepare for the competition,” he said. “If we’re going to spend that much resources, we want the kids to do the best job possible.”
Slevin, a third-year sports med student, said being in the program is an amazing experience. She was nominated by Clinton to potentially become the athletic training student of the year.
She learned on Monday, March 4, that she made the top three for the honors.
“So many doors have been opened. So many connections have been made through sports med. Mr. Clinton is also amazing. He’s very passionate about this field, and teaching in general, and that comes across through his teachings,” Slevin said. “It feels pretty awesome to be nominated for that award. I’ve put so much of myself into this program, so it feels nice that I have a way to be recognized for that because the last three years of my life I’ve spent over 850 hours in the training room. This is such a big part of my life and having this way to show how passionate I am about this and to be recognized for that passion, the hard work I’ve put in, is awesome.”
Slevin, a state officer for the Washington Career in Technical Sports Medicine Association’s sports medicine program, will serve as the captain of YHS’s anatomage team.
“It’s basically a virtual anatomy competition. It’s a little daunting because they can quiz us on literally anything,” Slevin said. “It’s been amazing to see how much hard work all of the members of this team have put in.”
If the team places high in the anatomage competition, it can qualify and advance to the national competition in Las Vegas this June.
“I’m very thankful for the Yelm community because this program would not exist as it does without the community. The majority of our funding for this trip comes from businesses and people within Yelm. If we didn’t have such a supportive community, we simply wouldn’t be able to go. It’s awesome to see how much Yelm shows up for the people in this program,” Slevin said. “I’ve learned so much with this program, and in the future, I want to be an orthopedic surgeon. I feel like this class has prepared me so much for that.”
Hurschler, a foreign exchange student from Germany, said she opted to take sports medicine classes before arriving at Yelm High School. In the fall, she began collecting hours by working in the training room or at football games.
“I’ve made a lot of good connections with a lot of students, and I’m really good friends with some of them,” Hurschler said. “For preparation, I have bought anatomy books. I’m at the morning reviews we do every Tuesday and Friday at 6:30 in the morning, and I was practicing my taping in the training room. Now that I have track, I don’t have as much time anymore, but I do try to practice because it’s a really big event — and I want to do good, too.”
Hurschler said succeeding in the sports medicine program requires a lot of commitment, but everyone is dedicated.
Hurschler recommended others join the sports med program.
“If you like medicine, if you want to get to know the athletes and work with them, if you don’t want to participate in sports but be around sports, then join sports med,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity, and you’ll learn a lot from it.”
Holbrook, a third-year sports medicine student, will compete in all three events.
“We’ve done a lot of studying, and we’re a very committed group of people, willing to take extra time out of the day to study the whole body. We’ll go and compete for it,” Holbrook said. “It’s been a great experience going through sports medicine. We’ve all kind of grown a close relationship together. I think this class is great because I personally want to go into the medical field as a nurse, and this class has taught me things I wouldn’t have known going into medical school later in life.
“Sports med is a great class to take if you plan on going into the medical field or if you don’t know what you’re planning after high school,” she added. “The health field always needs more workers. It’s a great class, and it opens more doors for you.”
During their time in California, the YHS sports medicine students will visit Universal Studios, tour the University of California, Los Angeles, watch the UCLA Bruin baseball team host the Washington State Cougars, all before competing on Saturday, March 16. The team will return home on Sunday, March 17.
