On May 9, 2025, Savy King of Angel City FC in the National Women’s Soccer League collapsed on the field after suffering cardiac arrest. Her heart had stopped. Athletic training staff rushed in immediately, performing CPR and reviving her before she was transported to the hospital, where she later underwent successful heart surgery.
Moments like these are rare, but they’re exactly what athletic trainers are trained for. Because in an instant, that preparation can mean the difference between life and death.
As a member of the Case Western Reserve University women’s soccer team, King’s story didn’t just scare me, it forced me to confront a real possibility: What if this happened to me, or to one of my teammates? And more importantly, would CWRU truly be ready?
The short answer: No.
CWRU currently has just three active athletic trainers, one of whom splits time with University Hospitals, responsible for nineteen varsity teams. Nineteen teams. Three people.
During our main season in the fall, we’re covered. There’s an athletic trainer at practices and games, before and after, on the field and ready. But in the spring? That support disappears. We’re still out there three times a week, grinding through two-hour practices—without a trainer present— and often without one even nearby. It’s gotten to the point where athletes are taping their own ankles in the locker room before practice.
So what happens if someone collapses during one of those spring sessions? What if it’s cardiac arrest?
CWRU’s athletic trainers are highly trained and fully capable of handling an emergency like this, if they’re there when it happens. But what if they’re not?
Yes, my coaches complete CPR training once a year. But would I trust that to save my life in that moment? No. And that’s not a knock on them, it’s a reflection of reality. That responsibility was never supposed to fall on their shoulders.
But what happens when something does go wrong? Because while incidents like this are rare, sudden cardiac arrest remains the leading cause of death among NCAA athletes, with even higher risks for male basketball players and Black athletes.
Maybe then policies will change. Maybe then more athletic trainers will be hired. Maybe it will take legal action, or a tragedy, to finally force attention onto this issue. But that’s exactly the problem: We shouldn’t have to wait for someone to get hurt for change to happen.
Three athletic trainers for nineteen teams isn’t just insufficient, it’s a liability. Division III or not, we are still athletes. We are still humans. We deserve to be protected before something goes wrong, not after.
