By Gianna Akter ’25
On September 27, 2023, Derby High School’s former athletic trainer, Dan Perillo, had his last day with the DHS family, leaving due to his contracting service. Since then, DHS student athletes have only had access to a trainer for about half of their practices.
This issue has been sorted out now with the hiring of a new permanent athletic trainer who started officially on December 6, 2023. However, many student athletes have expressed just how important having an athletic trainer is and what it has been like without one.
“It’s been kind of annoying since I get injured a lot,” says Kayla Adams ‘25, member of the DHS girls’ indoor track team. “So when there’s no one there to tell me what it is or how to fix it, the injury is just gonna stay there, and you know, be painful.”
Several other student athletes also share this perspective, adding to what the impact has been like at games. “I had times during the soccer season when the athletic trainer pulled up like ten minutes before the game,” reports Quintin Simjouw ‘25, member of the DHS boys’ soccer team. “Everyone that was injured was running around trying to get their feet or whatever else wrapped up, it really just throws the game off and everything.”
Not only do student athletes express these issues, but coaches and other sports faculty share the same frustrations. Matt Nicolari, head coach of DHS boys’ and girls’ indoor and outdoor track teams, states, “It just puts us behind, makes it a lot harder for kids to recover, and the inconsistency especially.” Nicolari focuses on the lack of consistency, explaining that a trainer who sees the kids every single day would know that someone has a history of ankle problems, for example, and would be able to follow up and help all week if something happened. However, when bringing in new people for only some practices during the week, they might see that an athlete hurt their ankle and think it is for the first time, when that might not actually be the case. It becomes a constant cycle of reevaluating the same injuries and history repeating with different people, paired with days when there is not a trainer in attendance to help out at all.
Due to the absence of athletic trainers during practice and the chaoticness that can happen during games, many student athletes communicate relief in response to the recent news of a new permanent trainer. Nick Sheridan ‘25, captain of the DHS boys’ soccer team, explains, “It’s good for us to have a trainer around so no one gets hurt, or if they do get hurt, they have someone around to help them out.” Quinlan Gray ‘25, co-captain of DHS girls’ volleyball and captain of DHS girls’ basketball teams, shares the same sentiment: “A lot of our athletes are injured, and if something does happen on the court, field or wherever, it’s important to have a trainer there who knows what they’re doing and who can properly help whoever is injured,” she adds.
Regarding the new permanent athletic trainer, the plan is to keep him on for the remainder of this school year and have Perillo back next year (as students and faculty of our school miss him very much) if everything works out.
The Raider Press 