Brunswick High School’s Dual Enrollment English 101 course was given an assignment to write a persuasive essay about a topic of their choosing. The Garnet & Gold Gazette staff chose their top 10 editorials to publish on our site. Staff used elements of news such as proximity, reader impact, human interest, and prominence within our community to publish relevant and enticing information on our site. 

The essays chosen did an amazing job informing readers on the content and creating persuasive arguments on the chosen topics.

“Where’s the Trainer?”

We’ve all seen the aggressiveness shown in high school sports. Whether at a daily practice, or weekly game, athletes put their best on the field. Currently, Frederick County Public Schools is struggling to maintain their staff of athletic trainers (ATs). The “FCPS Health and Safety Resources” site claims there are four ATs covering ten high schools; meaning athletes go days without anyone checking up on them. Every school needs their own full time athletic trainer because of the high probability for injury, and the number of athletes who need to be wrapped or tended to before participating in sports. 

Intense pressure surrounds game days; the pressure to please coaches, pressure to impress the spectators, and pressure to be the best teammate possible. With stakes high, the likelihood of injuries is even more risky. Trainers are essential to injury prevention, because they promote tools such as stretching, icing, and cupping. While coaches cannot give individual attention to every player’ injuries, trainers give warm ups that target one’s areas of pain. Frequent presence of athletic trainers help students with a consistent pre workout routine. Not only are trainers needed for injury maintenancemaintenence, but for emergencies too. Football games always have a trainer, and often have emergency medical services on standby. Football players aren’t the only athletes who deal with sprains, broken bones, and head injuries. There isn’t always a qualified professional present who can handle urgent situations such as these. 

Without a designated person to take care of athletes, we take matters into our own hands. Personally, I carry multiple types of wrap and tape in my backpack because I’m the most qualified teammate to do the taping. My teammate hurt her ankle during a game and I refreshed my memory with a youtube video on how to wrap an ankle that rolled and inverted. Her ankle could have been sprained, and I wouldn’t have been able to identify it with my limited knowledge and resources. My teammates have run out of water, and there are no staff present to fill our cooler. One girl has a hip that catches, and when she has trouble I’m the one doing mobility stretches with her. Another has knee pain and needs her patella stabilized. Brunswick volleyball players are in the same position as the field hockey team; they take turns taping each other’s wrists and knees. It’s unacceptable for FCPS to put students in this situation. 

A common misconception is that money is the biggest limiting factor of our small AT staff. It appears as if the athletics department doesn’t have enough funding for safety, but can put millions towards a new turf field at four offour4 of their schools. With a large sum of the budget spent on new fields, there is even less money available to pay our trainers, or take on any new personnel. There is already a low incentive to come and work for high schools, and minimal salaries are not exactly enticing. Despite the additional costs of building a more sizablesizeable staff, athlete safety should not be left out of the budget. Isn’t the extra money worth it? School districts such as MCPS are quick to agree. According to the “Montgomery County Public Schools Athletics” page, MCPS have taken on services from MedStar Health in order to put a full-time AT in every school. With 25 schools, Montgomery County is the largest Maryland school district, furthermore proving that FCPS is lacking in this area. 

At Brunswick High School, there are seven days on this month’s calendar in which a trainer will be present. Athletes will be left to fend for themselves the other fifteen weekdays. FCPS needs full time athletic trainers because of the safety concerns and the amount of self diagnosing that occurs among athletes. If our safety really mattered, the extra expense would be a no brainer for the athletic department. 

Works Cited

“Health and Safety Resources.” Frederick County Public Schools, www.fcps.org/athletics/

          health-safety. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023.

“Montgomery County Public Schools Athletics.” Montgomery County Public Schools,

          www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/athletics/. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023.