Sideline Heroes Shining a light on Athletic Training

By Gil Bothwell and Miles Gaskin

Injuries are part of the game and Chapman’s senior lacrosse attack Anna Klose understands that as much as anyone after three hip surgeries.

But when the game knocks her down, she knows she’s in good hands with Pam Gibbons, Chapman’s director of athletic training, on the sidelines.

“Pam is beyond amazing. I really love her,” said Klose. “She is always there for me.”

While athletes and teams are celebrated and recognized for their accomplishments, some of sport’s biggest heroes may be hidden behind the scenes.

The sports world was stunned by the story of Buffalo Bills’ cornerback Damar Hamlin, who received life-saving CPR after suffering a cardiac arrest during a National Football League game. This shined a light on the role of athletic training staff everywhere.

In a press conference from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Hamlin’s doctors agreed that without the quick response by the training staff on the field, the outcome could have been very different.

“We cannot credit their team enough,” Dr. William Knight commented in a press release.

While not all sports injuries are a matter of life or death, athletic trainers must be prepared to help athletes when injuries happen.

At Chapman University, the athletic trainers are assembled to do just that.

The Chapman athletic training staff is a five-person crew led by Pam Gibbons. They work with all the sports teams and numerous athletes all year.

Gibbons has been offered jobs at bigger colleges, but she has declined them all. She wanted to remain an integral part of the Chapman community.

“At the end of the day this athletic department is such a supportive and cohesive family, that the idea of leaving that and going into someplace where it is all new- it just never felt right,” Gibbons said. “This feels like home.”

Ashley Raciak returned to her alma mater 10 years ago to join the training staff.

“I would say one of my strengths is the true care and passion that I have for the profession and my athletes,” she said.

The staff works closely with college student assistants from California State University, Fullerton. Known generally as CSUF. The Cal State students who are pursuing a masters degree in athletic training must work as part-time assistant athletic trainers, under the supervision of full-time staff members at different clinical sites.

Gibbons came to Chapman in 1991 as the assistant athletic trainer, and in 1998 she was promoted to director of athletic training and sports medicine.

Chapman, along with several other local colleges, has formally agreed to function as one of these clinical sites. Chapman did have an athletic training program until 2019. It was terminated when it transitioned from the Attallah College of Educational Studies to the Rinker Health Science campus.

CSUF students help with treatment of injured athletes, walk them through stretches, rehab exercises, and pre-game preparations.

Krista Jones, a current CSUF graduate student in this program, said working at Chapman has been beneficial for her.

“Pam and the rest of the staff are very knowledgeable on a lot of different things, and I have definitely been able to get a lot more hands-on knowledge and practice,” Jones said.

Jones was particularly struck by the widely televised Hamlin incident.

“I thought it was obviously very devastating to see something like that on national television,” she said. “But I think that it opened people’s eyes to the profession of athletic training,” she said.

Jones felt that the event was a good way to help people recognize athletic trainers as healthcare professionals. She also expressed how the severity of Hamlin’s injury made her examine her own work.

“It definitely made me realize that if I really want to do this I have to be able to commit to doing something like that,” Jones said.

Jones’ goal since her teenage years is to become an NFL athletic trainer.

Another part time Chapman athletic trainer, Lane Fishburn, who graduated from the same program as Jones at CSUF, was also significantly impacted by the Hamlin incident.

“When a situation like that happens, all the years of training that you’re doing finally just kicks in and goes into override,” she said. Fishburn wants to be an advocate for every highschool to have an athletic trainer.

A number of athletes on campus have shared their appreciation for the training staff and the role it has played in their recovery.

Josh Lee, a senior cross country and track runner, has a history of injuries. On various occasions since his freshman season, he has utilized the resources of the training staff to help with his achilles tendinitis, knee patella tendonitis, and shin splints.

“They provided PT exercises, an ultrasound for my achilles, and some scraping,” Lee said. “I would say they are a good first step.”

His biggest critique of the Chapman staff would be their availability for some sports, such as at his early practices for cross country and track.

“If I was hurting at practice I would have to wait from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. to get treated,” Lee said.

Klose, a health science major, is pursuing her dream of becoming a physician assistant for orthopedic surgery. She has worked with Gibbons throughout her ongoing hip injuries.

“She obviously knows her stuff exercise-wise. In my experience all around she’s been very supportive, along with the mental side of it, and empathizes with me which I believe is a huge component with athletes and injuries,” she said.

Between the long hours, travel, treatment sessions after night practices, and at times working as many as four games a week, the job can be quite grueling and time consuming for Gibbons and her staff.

Even though the job isn’t easy, for Gibbons, seeing an injured athlete return to play is the greatest reward for all the hard work.

Gibbons added:

“When you can help them through all of the steps that are required to get them back on the field and back to their full potential, that right there is what makes this job worthwhile.”