Ben Tosyali ’27 strolls onto the football field donning latex gloves and carrying first aid equipment. He kneels over an injured player along with the adult medical personnel, ready to assist as needed. As he looks into the stands, Tosyali notices the eyes of students gazing at him, curious why he’s on the field with the players.
“We’re not just spectators,” Tosyali said. “We do a lot of pre-preparation, we practice a lot of tape jobs and then in-game, with some injuries, we have to wrap them up quickly.”
Tosyali, a member of Stevenson’s student trainer program Athletic Training Students (ATS), has participated in the program since entering Stevenson and notes the importance of other high school students having a club that serves a crucial role in their own life. However, Stevenson’s program is not one that is as common nationwide.
According to the National Institutes of Health, only 37% of public secondary schools have full-time athletic training services. For head athletic trainer Tyler Kollmann, the unique job opportunity as a trainer presented itself when he started at Stevenson over fourteen years ago, combining his degree in exercise science and his background.
“It’s always been ingrained in me to be helpful to others,” Kollmann said. “My mom was a teacher and my dad was a farmer. Regardless of where you come from, my advice for future trainers is that you do it for the purpose of helping others.”
According to Kollmann, the governing body of athletic trainers only allow students to observe. However, with requirements for certifications in the program, many students are able to perform quick jobs to help the adult team.
“A prerequisite before joining the program is to complete Applied Health, but because of my time with Civil Air Patrol, I already had the medical qualifications,” Tosyali said.
Sprains/strains make up 36.8 percent of all high school athletic injuries, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Even though the student trainers are not permitted to help much for those injuries, Tosyali says the program allows students to constantly grow and learn, even when observing treatment. In fact, this constant growth has encouraged Tosyali to rethink his after high-school plans.
“I’d love to go to a service academy,” Tosyali said. “In the military you don’t pay in money, you pay in time, and I want to spend my time in the service using my medical experience to help people.”
Students like Tosyali have encouraged Kollmann to return each year since his first day in 2010. A positive attitude displayed after school each day in the athletic offices is “required” by Kollmann, as he finds satisfaction in providing life skills that will last his trainers during high school and beyond.
“The first thing I look for is attitude,” Kollmann said. “I look for the kids who want to be here, rather than those I chase down. I want to find those who find value in the program. I’m willing to have someone who’s willing to be helped, whether extroverted or introverted.”
Tosyali finds his own sense of value in the program through the relationships he’s been able to build. On the football field or in the training office, the trainers not only treat numerous athletes, but they get to know their patients on a personal level.
“Over the course of the season I was able to see, not only with the senior trainers but also the student trainers, that I was able to build connections through helping people,” Tosyali said. “That was just a really, really special part of this program.”
As Tosyali enters the winter sports season, he will no longer be on the field, serving solely as a fall trainer. However, he eagerly awaits his return to action next season to continue helping the athletes and building even more relationships.
“Something that’s been rooted in me is that I never wanted to be a bystander,” Tosyali said. “I never wanted to be a person in the audience who just sat there and watched with no voice because what hurts me most is seeing people suffer and not being able to help them.”