The Finished Athletic Training Facility
By Michael Rice , MS, LAT, ATC
The September/October NATA News includes the article “Before the Blueprint,” which outlines things to consider before a face-lift, renovation or new construction project. To further shine a light on the topic, in this article series, the NATA Secondary School Athletic Trainers’ Committee and other ATs share practical insights and lessons learned from their recent facility projects.
The time has finally come! It’s move in day into your new facility.
I remember when I got to my first high school in 2014. It was a small rural school that had never had an athletic trainer. My first step was to convert an endless black hole of a storeroom into the school’s first-ever athletic training facility. After days of moving out old boxes, tables and paperwork and moving in athletic training facility supplies, I was finally settled.
A Group Effort
There were many hands who made this possible. I had worked with multiple groups to make this a reality.
Maintenance members of the school installed donated wall cabinets, created a rehab storage space on the wall, installed counters and a taping table. Utilizing the janitorial staff, we were able to rehome all the old paperwork from the 1980s and give the space a good cleaning. I had to coordinate with school administrators for delivery of supplies and minimizing access to the space from non-essential personnel. Let us not forget being willing to put personal touches on the space by painting an accent wall on my own!
The end result was a well-put-together athletic training facility for approximately 350 student athletes of the course of a school year.
Room To Grow
Now this first space is exactly that: A first space. While it was sufficient for the needs of the program in 2014, there is always room to grow, even when your build is “done.”
Just like our skills as ATs, our facilities should always grow and adapt. Once you are moved in, it’s always good to give the space the “blue tape treatment.” Walk through and put blue tape on things that need to be fixed or touched up. Inspect stability of furniture and shelves. Make sure electrical sockets work and ground fault interrupter circuits function. Prioritize the issues when bringing them up to stakeholders, safety items being the most vital. Also, understand that you just got this space – some of the touch ups may take some time to occur.
After utilizing the space for several years, I was pushing for the next upgrade. I wanted to put a sink in as a water hook up was available on one of the walls. I wanted the carpet removed (the space was originally a meeting room). These projects and more were always subjects being brought forward to administrators, boosters, coaches, etc. Both eventually happened due to time and investment within the school and community through good service to the student athletes.
Final Thoughts
Occupying your new space is an exciting time. Take some time and enjoy the space. Learn the flow. As you see what works and doesn’t, push on to the next upgrade. Include as many stakeholders as possible to create as much support and as many avenues of success as possible. Understand, your first space may not be perfect the first go around. Continue to advocate for the needs of your new space. Sometimes putting your own little bit of elbow grease will go a long way with other stakeholders. Finally, the limits of your athletic training facility aren’t defined by the size or current equipment you may have, but by your creativity and adaptability.
