Ward Sutlive, Campus Carrier sports editor

Cole Baggett, Campus Carrier asst. sports editor

Sports are unpredictable for both viewers and players. For players, the risk of a life-changing injury is always present. For many players, that risk becomes reality. 

Ginger Swann (93C), director of sports medicine, experienced that reality firsthand. She started out at Berry double majoring in psychology and physical education, but that all changed when Swann, who used to play tennis for Berry, rolled her ankle during practice. 

Her coach told her to go see Tim Aegean, Berry’s athletic trainer at the time, and that meeting developed into a positive mentor-student relationship. Aegean took the time to explain to Swann what athletic training was all about, which eventually inspired her to make athletic training her major concentration and psychology her minor. This decision would lead Swann to eventually become the director of sports medicine for Berry, as well the college’s assistant athletic director.

“I love investigating and learning, and that’s what happens with injuries,” Swann said. “The other part of it is that I get to develop these awesome and amazing relationships with our athletes by walking them through their injuries, even when it’s hard.” 

Berry’s sports medicine department is very large, with several athletic trainers. The head athletic trainer is Brandon Williamson. Williamson’s main roles in his job include managing strength and conditioning, scheduling, and overseeing the weight room when athletic teams use it for team-mandated practice. According to Williamson, the life of an athletic trainer is a rewarding one. He enjoys being able to help put players in a place where they can be the best athletes that they can be. 

“One thing that I love about athletic training is watching players work through all of the physical and emotional aspects of the healing process and seeing them get back out there,” Williamson said. 

A lot of athletic trainers at Berry have a standard routine that they adhere to. From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., trainers typically work on certain administrative tasks, where they handle things such as documentation and organizing meetings with their many student workers.

According to Jessica Howard, another athletic trainer, while the mornings are relatively simple and easygoing, afternoons for the sports medicine department are much busier. Those hours are spent treating injured athletes, which usually lasts until teams start practicing around 4 p.m. Much like Williamson, Howard finds the work that she does with Berry’s sports players 
to be very fulfilling. 

“I really enjoy seeing players thrive and be successful at their sport, but also learning about who they are as people,” Howard said.

Howard especially values the relationships she builds with the athletes. Working in sports medicine, she said, allows her to be with students throughout each step of the healing process for a long-term injury. This healing journey for students evolves from one of struggle and sadness to one of joy and excitement as their injuries begin to heal and they’re able to resume their 
athletic career. 

Howard added that the students she treats are going through a pivotal time in their lives as they learn more about their identity and grow into mature adults.     

“It’s more than just taking care of injuries,” Howard said. “They’re a whole person, and seeing them experience all the things as a whole person, the highs and the lows, is really rewarding.”

Williamson has noticed that, for better or worse, many student athletes’ self-image is tied to their performance as a player or the sport itself. This connection means that when athletes are injured, they lose their passion or sense of identity, so they are often at their lowest. During this time, Williamson is reminded of his feelings as a father, hoping to see the student athletes he treats succeed the same way he hopes his child will succeed. 

“We see them at their lowest” Williamson said. “We see them work through all the emotional and physical aspects of it, and to see them get back out there is super rewarding.” 

The sports medicine team sees different types of injuries depending on the sport. Williamson said that most routine injuries come from baseball, with the majority affecting the shoulder, elbow and wrists. While some of these injuries, such as UCL tears, require surgery, Williamson said the procedure is rather straightforward and that most of the players affected are ultimately able to return to play. Shoulder injuries, on the other hand, are less consistent, Williamson said.

“The nature of baseball is just not conducive to sports injuries,” Williamson said. “Players get warm and then stand around for an hour or two, and then all of a sudden, they’ve got to sprint toward the ball.” 

Despite these frequent injuries from baseball, Williamson maintains that the sport with the most injuries, by far, is football. Along with having more players, and thus a higher chance of injury, football players are also at higher risk of more catastrophic injuries, such as cerebral spine damages and ACL tears, which require at least six months of rehabilitation.

“Football being a collision sport with the sheer number of athletes they have—usually 120 to 140 kids out there— there are just more chances for certain things to go wrong,” Williamson said. 

Howard, who works mainly with swimmers and soccer players, said that soccer players are often affected by concussions and knee injuries, and swimmers suffer from shoulder and hip conditions such as labral tears or tendinitis. These conditions stem from strained repetition of swimming motions.

“Because swimmers are doing that repetitive shoulder motion, they get these knots up in their trapezium muscles and other tissue-related injuries,” Howard said. 

Howard and Williamson feel confident about handling this variety of injuries thanks to their student workers. Both athletic trainers expressed their sincere appreciation to the student employees filling water coolers for the athletes, wrapping bandages and making sure the athletes stay safe on the field. With roughly 75 student employees, the sports medicine department is equipped to handle any situation or injury at a moment’s notice.

“I’m sure it’s the same across Berry,” Williamson said. “The students make a huge impact, and they’re very helpful, but I feel like we feel it tenfold over here.”