Shelby Bradley | Sports Co-Editor

Senior Corey Hannula is from Maplewood, Minnesota and one of Buena Vista University’s (BVU) many athletic training students. Hannula covers sports such as wrestling, women’s soccer and also does rehabilitation rotations.

Hannula has recently finished taking his CrossFit Coaching Level 1 Certification and plans on taking the National Strength and Conditioning (NSCA) certification this summer.

As a student-trainer, Hannula commits a lot of time with different sports teams as well as staying on top of his schoolwork.

“I think what most people don’t realize is how big of a time commitment being an Athletic Trainer is,” Hannula said. “The Athletic Training staff gives senior students more responsibility and you are involved in nearly every decision that the Certified Athletic Trainers make.”

Being a part of the athletic training staff Hannula noted is more like being a part of a team; you have to be fully immersed in the decision-making processes that takes place within the training room in order to get the most beneficial outcomes.

Getting ready for a teams’ practice takes a lot of preparation and Hannula as well as the other trainers must arrive at the practices an hour and a half early. Preparations include making sure the water is ready, the kit is ready, and any paperwork that is needed to do for any previous injuries is done.

Although the schedule of balancing schoolwork and being a student-trainer is hectic, Hannula states several benefits of it.

“I think the best part of being an Athletic Training Student is the group of people that you are working with. These are highly motivated individuals that put forth a great deal of effort to try and make all the athletes prepared to be the best they can be on and off the field,” Hannula said.

Along with working with the athletic training staff, Hannula, and the other student-trainers get to work along side of their peers as they become apart of the sports teams.

“Corey had a strong relationship with the team. He was not only our athletic trainer, he was our friend. He would do anything for us,” senior soccer player Sam Richards said.

The Athletic Training Program as we all know is a very hands-on interactive program with many benefits to come from it. Hannula as well as many other student-trainers can attest to these benefits, as it will help them in their future career plan successes.