Athletic Training Budgets

It is that time of year again when athletic trainers begin to think of purchasing  equipment and supplies for the upcoming year. In these tough economic times you may have seen a decrease in your budget allocation making it even more difficult to purchase the supplies that you need.  I will detail my procedure for trying to squeeze every dollar out of your budget. 


First, you need to start with an inventory.  I explained my process in a previous post. Hopefully, you have a couple of years of data to examine to discover trends, over supply, under supply, etc.  You then decide what you need and how much.  You certainly can put in some wish list items.  One of the best devices for saving money is the BID. I always bid, even if it is one item that I need during the year.  Call the company and ask for a bid price.  It will always be lower than the catalog. 


Some of you may already be required to bid on certain items over a certain dollar amount.  Bidding works best if you try to buy all your supplies for the year in one big purchase. I bid everything, down to the littlest nail clipper.  You get a better price because the retailer is selling you more items and a small profit on a lot is better than a small profit on a few items.  To do this you have to be organized.  That is where doing an inventory comes in.  You have a good idea of what and how much you need.    


Once you have a list of the items and quantity you need you then put it in list form with space for a retailer to place the unit price and the quantity amount.  You can group items by sections.  Tape, rehab equipment, various sundry items, rehydration,  braces & supports, etc. makes it easier for you and the retailer to review.   


You also have to be fair to the retailer in honoring their price.  Therefore, you need to be very "exacting" in the wording of your items.  If you only use brand X tape then you need to specify brand X "no sub" as in "no substitution".  If you are not concerned about brand but just price then you would put "ankle underwrap"  and get a variety of prices of different manufacturers product. You then purchase the lowest priced brand.  Another option is to list multiple brands of the same item.  You may not want the very cheapest two inch elastic tape but there are brands that are acceptable to you.  You then list that item with the specifications for each brand that is acceptable to you.  A great part about bids (other than good prices) is that you do not have to buy what you have put on your bid.  


You can bid your necessary supplies and also add your wish list items.  If you end up saving enough money you can then begin purchasing those items, also at a reduced price because of the bid. An important stipulation that you want to make in your bid is that shipping is included in the bid price.  This will save you additional monies.


This process is made easier when you keep your yearly bids on file.  It is very easy to go to last years bid make some additions or deletions, or change quantities and you are ready to send for this year.  


It can be a time consuming process but in the end you end up with  more supplies and possibly even some items that you thought you could not afford.  So in closing:


Do a yearly inventory
Develop a bid for your yearly supplies
Review prices and decide on purchases
Submit orders
Never pay catalog prices


Good Luck!

The "Bob Huggins Moment"

At the end of he Duke-WVU game for the chance to compete for the National Championship in basketball, Da'Sean Butler injured his knee driving to the basket. Athletic Trainer, Randy Meador was quickly out on the floor to evaluate the injury. Butler was in a lot of pain making it difficult to do a quick assessment. Those are the situations you run into during a game where you do not have the luxury to take your time and give the athlete time to collect themselves. Seeing both the emotional and physical pain on Butler's face, Coach Bob Huggins came on to the floor to comfort Da'Sean.

I truly feel that Coach Huggins was sincere in his concern for his player. It was also a special moment for the viewers. While Coach Huggins is noted for being gruff and bombastic it showed a different side of him to the public. Certainly, an indication of the love on the team that helped them come together and make it to the Final Four.

Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery I predict we will see an increase in the number of coaches on the ground talking with their injured athletes. Coaches who never even came by the athletic training room after the game to have a heart to heart with their injured athletes will now be all over them during the contest. This I will dub the "Bob Huggins moment". Athletic Trainers trying to do their jobs will have to contend with coaches interrupting their evaluations so they can have a special moment with their athlete for all the fans to see.

While you may call me cold hearted I just feel that sports many times is about imitation. Athletes wanting to wear certain uniforms, (baggy shorts down to their knees) certain tapings, (football players getting their shoes taped), basketball players with elbow sleeves. (will someone do a study on the increase in elbow injuries in college basketball requiring a sleeve)

So be ready for those "Bob Huggins moments" next year. On second thought, nip them in the bud and have your own "Athletic Trainer moment" before any coach shows up.

PowerTape

I was introduced to Power Tape by Ron O'Neil, former Head Athletic Trainer for the New England Patriots. He now works for Andover Healthcare, makers of a variety of healthcare products. With his input the company came up with a totally new product. There are many adhesive tape products out there all fighting for a share of the market but PowerTape is different in many respects. It is a nonadhesive tape that sticks to itself or its sister product PowerFlex. It is an all manmade material that is fluid resistant. It also has less than 1% stretch during use. These features make it unique in the world of athletic tapes.

PowerTape is designed to be used in conjunction with PowerFlex. It is used in place of underwrap and provides a base on which PowerTape adheres. Without the PowerFlex, PowerTape would have nothing to hold onto since it is non adhesive. The advantages of this system are that you get a more support with the use of both tapes. PowerFlex itself provides a degree of support far beyond that of underwrap. PowerTape's combination of not stretching out and not absorbing sweat makes for tapings that do not break down as practices and competitions proceed. I have spoke with athletic trainers who use the system during two-a-days and do not remove the tape until the end of the day. It stays that tight. This is a both a time and budget saver.

Being the frugal person that I am and the use of PowerFlex being much more expensive than underwrap I have come up with what I call my hybrid ankle taping. I do my anchors and stirrups with regular white tape and then use PowerTape to finish with heel locks, horseshoes strips, figure eights, and circular fill in strips to the top of the ankle. In this way I get the extra support provided by the PowerTape but I save money by not using PowerFlex.

Some disadvantages are it may difficult to find the tape end on a previously used roll and it can be difficult to tear with moist hands. Besides that, I have used this product for the last two years and am very happy with it. I intend on using it in the future and would recommend it to all my colleagues.

(Athletic Training) Staff Appreciation

Great article appearing in the 2010 February/March issue of Athletic Management magazine.

Staff Appreciation

Student-athletes all readily understand the importance of the athletic training staff. But does everyone else?

By Shantey Hill

Shantey Hill is Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, where she formerly served as Director of Sports Medicine and Head Athletic Trainer. She can be reached at:Shantey.Hill@liu.edu.

Like most athletic administrators, my days are often full, and arriving to the office at 6 a.m. to get a jump on all the work that awaits me is a normal occurrence. One morning when arriving early, however, I noticed more lights on in the field house than usual. Now I know this seems like the beginning of some sort of mystery story, but you can rest easy it is not.

The extra lights belonged to the athletic training room, where three student-athletes, each from a different sport, were rehabbing with our Head Athletic Trainer. This should not have come as a surprise to me, but rather a reminder that no matter how frequently I put in long days, members of our sports medicine staff are usually the first to arrive and the last to leave.

Athletic trainers are often the most dedicated employees within an athletics department, but they can also be the most overlooked. Generally, athletic administrators have a good understanding of the basic athletic training job description, but do you know about all the unseen work they do? More importantly, are you aware of all the knowledge they possess and how they might provide insight into improving your overall department?

BEYOND THE CALL

Although there are no typical days in the profession, an athletic trainer usually arrives early for morning rehabilitation, spends hours on the phone with physicians, insurers, and service providers, then begins the afternoon rush of preparing for practices, including taping and stretching athletes. After providing practice coverage, it's on to post-practice treatments and catching up with injury reports.

This daily agenda changes often, and is not inclusive of all that athletic trainers do. In reality, the sports medicine staff juggles the health and welfare needs of hundreds of student-athletes every day, often without sufficient resources and staffing. Ratios of student-athletes to athletic trainers can be 50:1, and at smaller institutions, the number can be even higher.

If those numbers don't jump off the page at you, let me explain why they should. Let's take the process of handling a season-ending injury as an example of one thing athletic trainers do. When student-athletes suffer this type of injury, chances are they will need x-rays, MRIs, surgery, follow-up visits with the physician, and months of rehabilitation, all of which are overseen by the athletic trainer.

But what goes unseen, and what an athletic trainer will never tell you, is all the additional work that he or she does in this situation. With parents out of town, student-athletes turn to athletic trainers for a multitude of tasks needing to be handled with this type of injury.

Athletic trainers frequently become the method of transportation for student-athletes to get to these appointments, often using their own vehicles. They are the ones who spend hours in hospitals waiting for student-athletes to recover from surgery. They continually communicate back to parents and coaches to keep everyone informed. And once the athlete is back on campus, athletic trainers often make sure the proper assistance is in place to help the injured student get to and from classes and have meals delivered.

If even two or three such injuries occur at the same time, on top of all the other work athletic trainers do to keep athletes healthy, you can begin to understand how difficult the workload is to manage. But you can also see how important their extra work is to student-athlete welfare.

LIFE LINE OF TRUST

Athletic trainers deal with more than just the physical ailments of student-athletes, often handling the emotional and mental ones as well. Let me tell you the story of John, a football player in his senior year, who was well-liked by coaches, peers, and the athletics staff. He had suffered only minor injuries until a torn labrum in his shoulder forced him to miss spring football his junior year.

John worked hard with his athletic trainer during the spring and summer months and was back on the gridiron in the fall. On the surface, all seemed well until one day, when attempting to register for classes in the office of his academic advisor, John became irrationally upset, prompting her to call university security.

Upon arrival, security was unable to calm John, and followed procedure by calling the local police and the Director of Student Health and Counseling. Because all parties knew that John was an athlete they also notified the Director of Athletics and Head Football Coach.

John refused to speak to any of them and instead made his way to the field house. Followed by university and local police, the Director of Student Health and Counseling, and the football coach, John walked into the office of his athletic trainer and closed the door. In the conversation that ensued, his athletic trainer quickly realized that John was not himself and needed medical attention. The athletic trainer also knew that John might be arrested as soon as he stepped out of the office due to his erratic behavior.

From the relationship they had formed in the months prior to this incident, the athletic trainer was able to calm John and was also able to convince university personnel to allow John's parents to pick him up, with the stipulation that he would see a psychologist before he returned. John did so and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder--this being his first episode.

John did not return to the football team, but he graduated on time and is doing well. When he and his family visit campus each year, they continue to praise the efforts of his athletic trainer.

Stories about athletes like John who were helped by someone on the sports medicine staff exist in every campus athletic training room. Athletic trainers are often the first to know when a student-athlete is struggling with a class, having trouble at home, or even when friction exists with coaches and teammates. When facing issues, student-athletes frequently turn to their athletic trainers first, as this relationship is more comfortable at times than with that of a coach or administrator.

AT THE HUB

If by now you're thinking the goal of this article is to create a great case for naming your athletic trainer employee of the year, you're incorrect. The purpose is to help athletic administrators better understand what their athletic training staff members do and how important these functions are to the department.

Take a minute to think about your sports medicine department. It is the one place in an athletic department where student-athletes, parents, coaches, physicians, counselors, and various other department personnel converge with information central to the well-being of student-athletes. Athletic trainers have their fingers on the pulse of student-athlete welfare. They know when athletes are stressed, disgruntled, or about to explode. They know if coaches are handling student-athletes in ways that are positive or negative and also what athletes are saying out of earshot of other staff members.

When athletic trainers are seen in this light, they can become more valued members of the athletic department. They are highly educated, highly trained, and extremely talented professionals whom I often consult on decisions involving scheduling, retention, and the student-athlete experience. I ask for their insight on what's happening in many different areas of the department, as they are the ones who interact with each of them.

In addition to asking for their insight, I make sure to acknowledge their worth in every way I can. They work long hours with low salaries and never take the trophy home. As a former athletic trainer, I can tell you that no reward is better than the acknowledgement of your efforts and hearing the occasional thank you from your coaches and administrators. It's not too much to ask for all that they do.

Inclement Weather

With a snowstorm hitting across the eastern US brings up the issue of practicing when school is  closed.  Standard practice at many schools is to hold practice, even though the school has deemed it too dangerous for students and staff to travel.  Of course, the athletic trainer must now be there to cover the activity.  Other situations arise when a school closes early and the athletic practices continue on normal schedule.  This flies in the face of common sense.  


If a educational institution has deemed it too dangerous to have students and staff traveling because of weather conditions why are athletes somehow exempt from those dangers.  While some students may live on campus, and be able to walk to athletic facilities, many do not.  While it may be nice for the coach to say attendance is contingent upon an athlete being able to safely travel, the reality is usually different.  Many athletes will first make the effort to travel to determine if the conditions are safe enough.  There is also the pressure from the coach.  If they can make it into the facility then why can't the athlete.


Along with the athletes you have many support people that are needed.  This will include student coaches, managers, equipment people, and of course the athletic trainer.  Athletic Trainers best approach to this dilemma is to look at it from a student safety issue.  Do we really want to put the athlete in this potentially dangerous situation.  The person on campus that will be an ally is the school's legal counsel.  If you put the question to them regarding the best policy I am sure they will be on your side.  Set up the policy in advance so that all parties are well aware the guidelines and there are no complaints when school is cancelled. This is a situation that in the middle of summer does not seem all that important until it is upon you and there is no time establish meaningful guidelines.  

Athletes and Casts

Oftentimes, in the course of a year athletic trainers are faced with an athlete who has a fracture.  Sometimes it is season ending, sometimes there is enough time for recovery and return.  Other times the athlete may continue, provided they meet certain criteria.  In the case of an athlete with a cast, the continued participation is usually dependent on the rules of that sport.  Being able to protect opposing players from harm is usually the number one consideration.  Athletes who can continue to participate present their own set of problems for the athletic trainer.  

While fiberglass casts where a great innovation, the underlying cotton padding and stockinette is the same system used for the old plaster casts.  While the actual fiberglass casting material is impervious to water the cotton padding cannot become saturated with water.  Doing so leads to the deterioration of the skin and possible infection.  An athlete practicing with a cast accumulates sweat and dirt over time, increasing the potential for a harmful outcome.  Over time the cast will become a petri dish for bacteria.  I had one athlete tell me that his cast smelled so bad that it woke him while he was asleep.


There are a couple of options that the athletic trainer can pursue to deal with this scenrio.  In both cases it takes a cooperative physician to accomplish.  


The Bivalve - After an athlete has been fitted for a cast and it begins to deteriorate ecologically, you send them back to the doctor for a new cast.  The doctor then bivalves the cast and a new one is applied.  The new cast is also immediately bivalved.  The athlete now has two removable casts.  The original and now smelly cast for practice and competition, and a new one which is now presentable in mixed company.  


This procedure requires a physician comfortable doing this and a fracture that is far enough along in its healing.  You also need a responsible athlete who will continue to wear the cast since they can now remove on their own.  The athletic trainer only needs to apply the casts at the beginning and conclusion of activity.  Tape is all that is usually required to join the two pieces for a stable device.


Cast Liner - The other option is to use some new products that make the underlying cast padding also water proof.  These products are applied just like the traditional cotton padding but are now water proof.  The athlete can practice in them and then go into the shower without any protective cover.  In fact that is preferably as the shower will help rinse out any accumulated dirt and sweat.  Many doctors do not carry this product because of reimbursement issues with insurance companies.  I have used the Gore Tex PROCEL cast Liner for a number of years.  I purchase this myself and when I have an athlete who is to be casted I send along some rolls of the material for my doc to use.  It works out well.


Besides PROCEL there are a couple of other products now on the market. PROCEL. Here are the links:


     Gore Tex PROCEL

    3M™ Scotchcast™ Wet or Dry Cast Padding

    BSN Deltra Dry