NOTE: A version of this story first appeared in the summer 2021 edition of Concordia University's Broadcaster magazine. Since this story was written, Eric Lundberg took a position elsewhere while the Concordia Athletic Training staff grew with the additions of Brittan Murphy and Brenna Pfahler.
They are some of the unsung heroes of the athletic department. They play an essential role in the success of student-athletes at Concordia. Behind the scenes, athletic trainers log long hours in an effort to prevent injuries and aid in recovery when unfortunate circumstances do arise.
For Bulldog athletic trainers Randy Baack, Eric Lundberg and Kyli Haines, the job is a passion. They are mostly seen – but sometimes overlooked – on the sidelines, ready to spring into action when called upon. Okay, you may see Randy quite frequently – he always seems to know where the cameras are situated. Whether they are noticed or not, athletic trainers are everywhere when it comes to athletic events, practices and training sessions.
Beloved by student-athletes for their kindness and care (and occasional dad jokes), Concordia’s athletic training team is here to serve. The desire to help others drove them to pursue this time-consuming, but rewarding vocation.
Why athletic training
Baack continues to serve in a role that he has held since 2002, when he returned to his alma mater. A native of Columbus, Ind., Randy and his wife Jill traveled the country to places like North Tonawanda, New York, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Potomac, Virginia, before God called them back to Seward. Randy had been a teacher and a youth director early in his professional career, but he hadn’t felt like he had found his true passion.
Randy, a former starter on the Bulldog Baseball team, gave up teaching to pursue physical therapy. That line of work also didn’t feel like the right fit after he volunteered at five separate physical therapy clinics. In a stroke of good fortune, a physical therapist (dual credentialed in PT and AT) that Randy had worked with enlightened him in regards to the athletic training field. For an entire year, he started hanging around the training room and the football team at the University of Utah. Randy eventually earned his master’s in athletic training from Indiana State University.
Said Baack, “I really liked it. You get paid to watch sports. I know it was a God thing. I really thought I was going to do physical therapy, but God steered me in another way … it was never about coming back to Concordia. That wasn’t ever a thought or a goal. If that therapist hadn’t been dual credentialed I don’t know that I would have ever thought about athletic training.”
Lundberg was hired at Concordia as Assistant Athletic Trainer in 2016 after having worked at North Dakota State University and Minnesota State University while working on his master’s degree. Growing up in small town South Dakota, Lundberg saw a void when it came to athletic training. The native of Clear Lake, S.D., saw a need and believed he had what it took to fill it.
While in high school, Lundberg once suffered an ankle sprain that resulted in him going to the hospital. Inexplicably, the emergency room doctor put a cast on the ankle. The situation led to Lundberg seeking out an athletic trainer in Sioux Falls, where he got an introduction to his future career.
Said Lundberg, “I was very unfamiliar with the profession growing up as a young high school athlete trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I knew I wanted to do something service-oriented. I really enjoy helping people and helping them achieve their dreams. Doing something where I could help people was my No. 1 goal.”
Haines joined the team prior to the start of the 2019-20 academic year after having spent 2018-19 as an athletic trainer at Buena Vista University (Iowa). She also served the Coyotes football and softball teams during a two-year graduate assistantship at the University of South Dakota. Just like Randy, Kyli gave consideration to physical therapy, but preferred the athletic setting.
Said Haines, “I was involved in sports in high school and ended up having a significant injury. I really respected the athletic trainer that came to our school. Initially I wanted to do physical therapy. Going through the program, I realized I wanted to stay in an athletic field, versus being in a clinic. It’s pretty similar to physical therapy, but my love for sports was something I couldn’t get away from.”
A ‘normal’ day
No two days are ever exactly alike when it comes to athletics. As athletic trainers will tell you, it’s not a good thing when they are needed a lot during competition or training. That means there are injuries. However, must of their time is spent away from the competitive surfaces. Behind the scenes, trainers and student-athletes meet on a regular basis. Visits to the training room are no longer looked upon as a sign of weakness, even for healthy athletes.
The focus for weekday mornings normally centers upon athletes with more significant injuries. Kyli Haines prefers to have this part of the day structured and scheduled out. For example, an athlete coming off an ACL surgery may come in during the morning for rehab purposes. A lot of one-on-one time occurs in the mornings, allowing athletes to have specialized attention. In the afternoon, the focus shifts to pre-practice preparations. Some of the tasks at this time may be as simple as taping ankles. The key is to get athletes in and out quickly, if possible.
Night games will lead to particularly long work days. On some occasions, the workload will require the presence of athletic trainers early in the morning until evening post-event treatments have been completed. This is not a job where one can just go through the motions. You have to love it.
Says Lundberg, “I find that time (in the mornings) super rewarding because I get to be with these athletes on a more individual level. On a busy day I might see 20 to 30 of them in the morning. On a slower day it might be only 10. I enjoy being busy, but on those days with those 10 athletes, I really enjoy the time I get to spend with them. When you get to the afternoon session it kicks up the pace a bit. We start moving into practice prep and getting the athletes in and out. We see a lot of athletes at that time. On a day-to-day basis, I might see half of my roster size, which is 100-plus kids.”
At times, a tough call has to be made as to whether an athlete can continue competing through an injury. There are protocols that must be followed. Head injuries are always met with extreme caution. Concordia’s athletic trainers keep the best interests of the student-athletes in mind when a hasty decision must be made.
“Right now athletics is their life, but at some point you have to have a conversation,” Haines said. “If the injury is significant enough, you have to look at the overall well-being of the person. I really pride myself on earning the trust of the athletes, as well as the coaches, in order to have those tough conversations. As long as everyone is on the same page, it’s not as challenging as you would think it is.”
“Normal” was completely thrown out the window in 2020-21 when athletic seasons were threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Athletic training in a pandemic
The 2020-21 athletic year was decidedly abnormal for athletic trainers across the country. The consensus is that they hope they never have to experience another year quite like it. As far as Concordia’s AT crew, it has no idea how many COVID-19 screenings they have administered since August 2020. Before anyone was allowed to enter the training room over the past several months, they had to be screened first. Athletic trainers often screened athletes on game days (if not done by a coach) and sometimes did so early in the morning before teams left for road events.
Limitations were placed on how many athletes could be in the training room at once and masks were always a requirement. Because of the nature of their jobs with close contact as a norm, athletic trainers have put themselves at greater risk during the pandemic. Baack feels like he and his team did everything they could to limit potential exposure to the virus. Athletes were told not to come in for STEM treatments unless it was completely necessary and the number of people who could sit down for ice baths at one time was scaled back.
Said Baack, “Our protocols were set up based on what the doctors were saying at the time. The protocols kept changing from the fall to the winter and to the spring. Our administration did a great job. Our policies were really strict. Whatever Four Corners (Health Department) would say, we did a little extra. We were able to compete and hold practices and competitions. We never had any outbreaks related to athletics. Social settings were where you could get into trouble. Everybody had to do the extra work.”
The circumstances of the pandemic made for a whirlwind of a spring that was back-loaded to include fall sport postseason events. During the spring semester, Concordia athletic trainers could be seen at national championship venues in locations such as Gulf Shores, Ala., Lewiston, Idaho, Chickasha, Okla., Omaha, Neb., Park City, Kan., and Sioux City, Iowa. In order to keep up, Concordia added to the AT staff with a temporary employee.
It took much toil and attention to detail, but Bulldog Athletics enjoyed a successful 2020-21 in spite of the virus. Said Lundberg, “Back in August there was definitely a lot of apprehension. It was a little bit nerve-racking at times, but I think we moved forward in an appropriate manner with some good common sense logic. It took a lot of preparation and planning. We had this problem that seemed insurmountable, but we came together as a cohesive unit and figured out how we could do this.”
Added Haines, “It was definitely something that I don’t want to have to do again, to be honest. Starting in the fall there were so many unknowns. Once the soccer postseasons got moved to the spring, that’s when we had to start rethinking how we were going to do this type of a thing. It was definitely a challenge. It took a team effort with our coaches and staff.”
Achieving work-life balance
Prior to answering questions on a Thursday in early June, Lundberg joked that he may need to bring Dairy Queen Blizzards home in order to earn brownie points following a week of travel. Life as an athletic trainer sometimes means that Eric will go without seeing his wife Cassie and young son for certain stretches of time. That was the case when Eric traveled with the baseball team to the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, in late May.
The key is to take advantage of time with family and get out of the office when times are slower. Said Lundberg, “If I were to talk to any aspiring athletic trainer hoping to get into dating life and meet their future spouse, you have to be transparent about it. One thing I’ve been blessed with is my wife underwent some of the education process to become an athletic trainer. She’s very understanding of the job and the tasks at hand. There are times when it’s grit and grind and get up and do your job. Not all times are that intensive. You have to cherish that time with family. Now as a father of a one-year-old, I cherish those moments a lot more than if I were, for example, a stay-at-home-dad. Those moments I spend with him, I’m fully invested.”
Over the past four years, Baack has taken advantage of the opportunities to watch his daughter Anna compete as a pole vaulter on the track and field team. At a place like Concordia, people are always willing to help. Baack has had other staff cover his duties at times so that he could watch Anna compete. Like Eric, Randy also has understanding family members who know there are times when the hours will be long.
Said Baack, “You evaluate how important each thing is. You have to be there for practice. You have to be there for games. You’re never shortchanging the athletes or the coaches. You definitely value that time at home and having an off day. You get better at working smarter and not harder and maximizing your time. It’s a team thing.”
It’s about the relationships
Some Concordia student-athletes may roll their eyes when Randy tells one of his many dad jokes, but they sure do miss them when they’re gone. So well-known on campus for these silly (and sometimes pathetic) jokes, Randy often has student-athletes come to him with their own jokes. This past Christmas, Randy received a Christmas card from a former student-athlete who included a dad joke.
These connections are evidence of the impact athletic trainers have on student-athletes. It goes beyond the physical health of Bulldog competitors. Athletic trainers are like an extension of the coaching staff. In some cases, they may even have more interaction with student-athletes than the coaches. The fostering of positive relationships with student-athletes is a truly rewarding aspect of the athletic training field.
Haines even gets a little emotional when discussing this aspect of the job. Said Haines, “My main goal is to make sure the athletes leave with some sort of positive experience, whether it involves an injury need or something emotional or spiritual. It’s all wrapped into one for me. Without getting emotional, that’s a huge thing for me. I want people to have a positive interaction within the training room.”
Added Lundberg, “The primary fulfillment that I get out of my job is the day-to-day stuff that we get to do with these athletes. I see a wide variety of athletes from different cultures and socioeconomic statuses that it really opens your eyes up. We see them at the highest of their highs and sometimes, unfortunately, at the lowest of their lows. Helping athletes deal with injuries and getting them back to a level where they’re fulfilling their dreams is the No. 1 thing that I get out of this job.”
Along that topic, Baack has witnessed a large number of athletes persevere through injuries and then reach the peak of their collegiate careers. A recent example is women’s basketball star Taylor Cockerill, who missed the entire 2019-20 season and then returned to an All-American level in 2020-21. Said Baack, “It’s frustrating for athletes to go through those things. It’s great to see kids get back and be successful. Taylor is a prime example of that. It was incredible to watch her.”
Making sacrifices while playing an essential role in the success of student-athletes is what Concordia athletic trainers do for a living.