By: Pharna Choul –
The quarterback throws the winning pass in adoration as the crowd goes wild, all while no one pays any notice to the people who are behind the scenes to aid the athletes and get them onto the field. If you don’t play a sport, do you ever wonder who the people are who get water ready for a game, get the players back playing, or are on the sidelines to help the athletes when they get injured on the field or court?
One of the under-celebrated students is senior Victoria Molina, a girl just trying to accomplish her dreams by keeping herself busy and doing the things she loves to do. Molina is a student athletic trainer for football and soccer and spends her time in the winter being a boys basketball manager. In her free time you can find her involved with National Honor Society, Students Together Against Cancer, and Student Advocate for World Change. She also volunteers at The Cat House, which relies on volunteers who take in cats and keep them until they find an owner. The Cat House is a no-kill shelter, and a non-profit organization. Molina also helped out with the Special Olympics. However, she still makes time to hang out with her friends, go to study groups, and keep up with school work. It wasn’t until Molina’s junior year when she decided what she wants to do for after she graduates high school. She’s always wanted to be in the health field and it lead her to athletic training. Seeing what Southeast athletic trainers Julie Buck and Cindy Benda do fascinated her and steered her in that direction.
“Managing for boys basketball is definitely a challenge sometimes,” said Molina. “I enjoy it; it’s a different view on the school and I never would have met the people I know now, which I’m really thankful for. All of the connections and parents I’ve met through this has really helped me.”
As a manager, some of the tasks are filming games so the players can see their mistakes, getting the coaches prepped, making sure the players have their jerseys and shoes, and dealing with water.
Molina is a student at The Career Academy and is in the health sciences pathway. This year she is taking classes that will help her for college and she is hoping to be Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certified at the end of the year. Molina wants to attend Nebraska Wesleyan or the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the fall.
Junior Alexis Sandman is a motivated athlete and loves helping out in the athletic training room with Buck and Benda. She spends a lot of her time with the two and improves her skills with them. Sandman is a student athletic trainer in the fall and winter and plays soccer for the Knights and for her club team. She got connected with Julie Buck by her dad. Sandman’s been an athletic trainer since her freshman year and is now in the EMT program at TCA getting her basics done so far by learning about the human body.
Sandman is planning on majoring in athletic training at Nebraska Wesleyan. “Don’t slack around in school and work hard for your goals. Don’t give up when things don’t go your way,” said Sandman.
If someone asks you who the people are who get water ready or who are on the sidelines treating players, you can tell them they are the athletic trainers and managers of the team. They do an awesome job on what they do and love every moment of it.
