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Community
February 15 - 28, 2014
DIAMONDBACKS FROM PAGE 1
I come in and do administrative stuff and get those things all coordinated: player treatment plans and rehab plans. “From there, we progress into daily treatment stuff. Players start coming in. Players normally stretch about 3 p.m. then they do their on-field activity. Then we work into pre-game treatment type stuff. Then they play the game. Postgame, we have a lot of recovery things and treatment-type options for them. We’re gone about 11:30 p.m. or so.” Crenshaw splits his off days in between traveling and spending time at home with his wife and three sons. “Traveling is probably the hardest part,” he says. LEADING THE TEAM: Diamondbacks Head Athletic Trainer Ken Crenshaw came to the team in 2005. Photo by Jordan Megenhardt/Arizona Diamondbacks
Active family Crenshaw’s family is entrenched in Chandler sports. He coaches basketball, a sport his sons have played. “I have a lot of roots in the whole basketball world because of that,” he says. “My kids, they played in Chandler youth football league, too. I actually coordinate all the athletic training through that through the affiliation with parents and coaches in the league.” He also works with Foothills Sports Medicine in Gilbert in his spare time, which leads to the affiliation with all the local sports leagues. Crenshaw enjoys coaching. “I am doing it with another guy who works with me,” he says. “He doesn’t have any kids, which is good sometimes because you have a neutral coach. The
hardest thing to do is coach your own kids. There are a couple other dads who help me out. It works well in the offseason for me and my family, spending time with the kids.” Family is important to Crenshaw, who lives in the Arizona Avenue and Riggs Road area. Born in New Mexico, he moved with his family to Arkansas for a short time and then returned to “The Land of Enchantment.” “My wife and I are from the same area in New Mexico, a real small town in the south central part of the state. It’s really nice. We visit there often. It’s a good change of pace from the big city of Phoenix.” Growing up, he didn’t consider becoming an athletic trainer, as a
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matter of fact, he was unfamiliar with the field. Crenshaw, the son of former Philadelphia Eagles player Bobby Dan Crenshaw, was a walk-on for New Mexico State University’s basketball team until he tore his ACL. That cemented his choice of career. “Before that, I had little to no experience,” he says. “I didn’t even know what they were. When I was a junior in high school, I got hurt playing football. My dad said, ‘See my trainer from college.’ They treated me for a couple days. I thought, ‘Wow, this is cool that somebody can help you get better.’ I got into the program my first year, second semester at college. I spent time in the training room, and never really looked back since.”
www.SanTanSun.com After graduating from NMSU with a degree in sports medicine, he worked as a trainer with the Pittsburgh Pirates for three years and as a strength and conditioning coordinator with the Atlanta Braves for four years before heading to Tampa Bay. During his 10-year career with the Devil Rays, he worked his way up the ladder. He served for three years as head athletic trainer, for five years as assistant trainer and two seasons working with the organization’s minor league players on strength training, conditioning, nutrition and rehabilitation. “I’ve been really fortunate to meet some people who have helped me along the way and be a part of some really good teams,” he says. “I’ve been associated with some really good sports medicine people who have helped me in my career.” When Crenshaw was hired by the D-backs, he replaced Paul Lessard, who accepted the head athletic trainer position with the Boston Red Sox. Diamondbacks General Manager Kevin Towers recognizes that passion. “I think Ken is one of the better trainers in the game,” says Towers in an emailed statement. “He’s a progressive thinker who is always coming up with innovative ideas and outside-the-box ways of doing things that keep our players on the field and make us more efficient.” Christina Fuoco-Karasinski is the editor of the SanTan Sun News. She can be reached at christina@santansun.com.