Wrapping up football season, sports medicine is supporting the coaches and teams by preparing to work spring games, the second half of their year-round job.

“We do everything you wouldn’t think of as a viewer in the stands,” senior Maya Gonzales said. “Setting up benches, preparing the locker room, getting snacks, things people don’t think about, or think the players do.”

All 30 members of sports medicine worked for the football team. Getting all of their bags ready, lining up the jerseys in numerical order, setting up the balls, taping the player’s wrists and ankles, arranging the locker room, getting headsets for the coaches, sports medicine members need to be prepared for any emergency.

“If anything happens we’re there, we have all of our stuff,” freshman Emily Nguyen said. “We’re there to prevent injuries, so we need to bring all our equipment, like tape, in the event of an ankle being broken or a wrist being broken.”

Not all of the job is done before the game. After Friday night football games, sports medicine members spend around 30 minutes unloading the trailer. On the Saturday following the game, players come in for treatment from the sports medicine team who also finishes cleaning up from 8 a.m.-1 p.m.

“It’s a taste in the medical field, and you learn how to have good teamwork,” Nguyen said. “You have to work hard and be dedicated so that we can help the athletes.”

Totaling to about 15 hours a week, the sports medicine members must work together to get their job done. They also form bonds with the athletes they work with.

“The best part about sports medicine is you’re with a team for so long, and you take care of them and watch them get better,” Gonzales said. “Watching the team win is one of the best feelings after seeing them grow. But coming in at 5:30 in the morning isn’t fun.”

Moving forward into spring sports, sports medicine members need to switch gears for their specific sport.

“It’s not something you can blow off,” Nguyen said. “You actually have to try and put effort into it. If you don’t put effort in you’re never going to improve.”

Many of the tasks sports medicine is responsible for are unseen. They work every day in order to have games work smoothly.

“It’s important because none of the sports teams could function without us,” Gonzales said. “We get [the athletes] back out there to play. The coaches also rely on us to get ready so that the players can just show up and play.”