While Case Western Reserve University may not be known for its athletics, it has built a strong reputation as a competitive athletic program. Behind the victories, UAA championships, and NCAA honors lies the relentless work of injury prevention and recovery, which is essential to sustaining a successful athletic program. At the heart of CWRU athletics are three dedicated athletic trainers whose expertise and care form the backbone of the university’s sports teams.

CWRU supports 19 total varsity sports programs and over 500 athletes who all fall under the care of Head Athletic Trainer Jay Garfield and Assistant Athletic Trainers Shelby Archable and Lauren Pinzka. To put that workload into perspective, the University of Georgia (UGA) has 15 athletic trainers for 21 varsity sports and roughly the same number of athletes. While UGA may be a Division I program with SEC funding, Washington University in St. Louis, a peer institution in academics and athletics, employs five athletic trainers to support 19 varsity sports and over 600 athletes.

“On the National Athletic Trainers Association website, there is an algorithm where you put in the amount of teams you have and the amount of student-athletes you have to see how many athletic trainers you should have,” Pinzka said. “We should have nine and a half athletic trainers working for the number of athletes we have, and we have three and a half.”

With only three athletic trainers, CWRU has temporarily outsourced to University Hospitals’ Rachel Holloman, who is also affiliated with Lake Erie College, while they attempt to fill the position of a fourth athletic trainer. However, Holloman is limited to 40 hours per week and cannot travel with teams. As a result, Garfield, Archable and Pinzka must shoulder those responsibilities on top of overseeing 3-4 teams each, an average of 160 athletes and teaching courses for CWRU’s Sports Medicine minor.

“Right now, we are super understaffed,” Pinzka said. “With the way that division three is moving, we’re becoming more like D1 schools. We’re adding extra practices and adding more games, and it kind of never stops. So being in season, every season, is exhausting, and being in the UAA, traveling to all these different locations, it’s a lot.”

Due to the shortage of athletic trainers, fall sports teams currently in their spring seasons do not have a dedicated athletic trainer, even though they continue to practice multiple times per week.

“During the spring season, we don’t have an athletic trainer assigned to us,” first-year women’s soccer player Kinzly Gootman said. “[Pinzka] was our athletic trainer in the fall and while we still go to her with all of our injuries, she is currently working and traveling with softball. We often have teammates taping each other’s ankles in the locker room before practice because we don’t have an athletic trainer to do it.”

In addition to Garfield, Archable and Pinzka, CWRU relies on student athletic trainers, who are in the process of earning a sports medicine minor from CWRU, to help with the surplus of athletes in need.

“They’ll come work games and practices for us and just be another set of hands,” Pinzka said. “Then we can train them in taping, evaluating injuries, setting up rehab programs, stretching and all that kind of stuff.”

Students in the sports medicine program are required to gain clinical hours by assisting the CWRU athletic trainers where needed and they can learn directly from the experienced staff.

“We have a huge population going to [medical] school, and a lot of those individuals want to pursue orthopedics or orthopedic surgery. We try to align this minor to train them for what they would be seeing as a doctor in the orthopedic world,” Pinzka said. 

Despite possessing a similar level of education and expertise as other healthcare professionals, athletic trainers are often undervalued in their field. However, most athletes, like Gootman, would argue that athletic trainers are one of, if not the most, essential components of a successful and healthy athletic program.

“I would not have gotten through my first season of college soccer without [Pinzka],” Gootman said. “She was always there, whether it was addressing injuries, advising on PT or stretches, performing treatment for optimal recovery or relieving pain and providing emotional support when athletes were struggling. She filled many roles that helped the women’s soccer team as whole and me individually.”

Many people underestimate the severity of injuries athletic trainers are trained to assess and the crucial role they play in keeping teams safe and competitive. Athletic trainers possess knowledge in a variety of medicine and health practices.

“We’re trained in orthopedic assessment, and all orthopedic injuries, but that comes with treating the whole individual,” Pinzka said. “When I was in undergrad, we had a mental health segment and then general medicine. If someone has a sore throat, I have to be able to know the signs and symptoms, and be able to refer them for things like that. Emergency medicine is another aspect of orthopedic assessment. Mental health is also huge right now, and being at a high academic school, we do see a lot of mental health issues.”

Student-athletes face a unique challenge. At a highly academic institution like CWRU, they are not only expected to excel on the field but also in the classroom, often experiencing additional pressure from teammates and coaches regarding how their academic performance reflects on the team. Beyond these demands, they navigate the typical concerns of college life, including social relationships and future career prospects. In 2023, the National Library of Medicine reported that nearly one in four student-athletes exhibited signs and symptoms of depression.

“It’s not just a broken ankle, it’s also them being able to get around to classes and stressing about that, and them having to deal with not being able to play and how detrimental that can be to their mental health,” Pinzka said. “I definitely would say mental health is a huge part of athletic training because you build those relationships with your athletes and they hopefully feel comfortable coming to you.”

Despite the challenges [Pinzka] faces at CWRU, she cherishes the relationships she has with her athletes.

“It’s amazing getting to be a part of their journey’s,” [Pinzka] said. “Being at such a high academic institution, it’s amazing knowing the careers [they] all are going into. Seeing everyone graduate and have these amazing jobs lined up, I don’t think I would get that at every institution.”

Gootman appreciates everything the athletic trainers do and their accessibility to all athletes, regardless of whether they are in season or not.

“They are always very accessible even if they are not at our off-season practice,” Gootman said.

“[Pinzka] has a weekly spreadsheet that athletes use to schedule a time to see her so we can find times to get treatment between our practices and classes. I seriously don’t know how the trainers balance it all, but I am extremely grateful for the athletic trainers that we have. They take the time to get to know us and support us through the recovery process. I do not think the athletics department would be running without them and all of their efforts.”