The Sports Medicine club at LFHS is set to become a new opportunity for students to get a taste of the medical aspect behind athletic training. Whether a student wants to be a physical therapist, physician, EMS, nurse, or athletic trainer, this club is designed for you to get an early exposure and prepare you for the opportunities ahead.
The club was launched in late October when Athletic Trainer Megan Luetje wanted to pilot the club. As a student at LFHS in 1999, she participated in a similar club while working as an athletic training student, which inspired her to bring it back.
“We learned how to do everything [in the club]. So when I went to [University of] Iowa, I already knew everything. My first year was a breeze. There were around 60 kids who applied, and they took the top 15. I made that easily,” Luetje said. “There would be a taping day, and they were like, ‘ You’re done while the rest of the group did it for a week. So it was great to already have this knowledge and feel good and confident going into college.”
Lutetje places emphasis on wanting to “rebuild” the program for current and rising students at LFHS.
“I always wanted to come back and help rebuild that or do this for the future kids in this community.”
For meeting times, considering everyone participating in the club is an athlete, students will come roughly every day after school, during school, or even after their practices. When students attend, they get to see the real experience.
Club members are given the opportunity to witness injuries firsthand, learning how to evaluate injuries, assist with rehabilitation and taping, and how to refer an athlete to a doctor when necessary. All the skills are shown when going into a professional field.
“I learned the importance of proper recovery and how to improve my own training and how to become better after getting injured and how to recover faster to be a better athlete,” frequent club member Andrew Ellison said.
Currently, the club is primarily hands-on work, but Lutetje aims to expand it by adding discussion-based lessons and activities to create well-rounded learning.
Club participants also gain the chance to take part in the behind-the-scenes tasks that aren’t really viewed by the spectators.
“We have two kids who have an 8th-period study hall, so they get to leave with us [the trainers] to go to West Campus. They help set up all the waters and get them in the right place. They stay there if they can,” said Luteje. “It helps us because that is tedious stuff that takes up our time, but when they do it for us, they get to be involved, they feel important, but also helps us a ton so it becomes a win for us.”
As the club is still in its early stages, the goal is to establish more structured “sit-down” meetings throughout the year.
Another goal is to have a select number of students to attend the three day football camp, Parkside, where they will spend their time working on the field and getting real athletic training experience.
“It will be their own athletic training camp to just get ahead of it. Also, when it’s a good group of kids that really like each other, it becomes like a hangout,” Lutetje said.
Students with an interest in sports medicine or injury care are encouraged to stop by the athletic trainer’s office and talk to Megan Lutetje to help make a difference at LFHS.
