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Sports t A Veto F. Roley Sports editor Perry Hospital serves local athletes well Professional and college teams arc treated well. Well-trained athletic trainers treat athletic injuries, making it possible for the athlete to return to the play ing field in the best possible condi tion, missing as little action as possible. It seems that once an ath lete makes it past the high school level, he has it made. In fact, many high school ath letes never make it to higher levels of competition because of the lack of good medical care. Many are hampered by the slight ankle sprain that gets worse through misdiagno sis. Eventually, the ankle gets to where the player can not play. But, Perry High School and Westfield Schools are unique. Perry Hospital has two athletic trainers which provide what college and pro fessional athletes receive, good, on site medical care. And, Perry Hospital provides Chip McCarty and Mike Edgar at no charge to the local schools. It is a service to the high schools, to the athletes who participate in the high school programs. We are not talking here about a team doctor who only appears on Friday nights, or an athletic trainer who only appears on game night;. We are talking about full time em ployees dedicated to the high school athletic programs. Last year, Mc- Carty worked some weeks 60 or more hours a week, seeing nearly 20 student athletes a week. This program encompasses both the game and practice limes. Also, McCarty and Edgar give a free early morning clinic to the athletes during the sports seasons. All at no charge to the athletes. The hospital also provides free physicals to the athletes at the local schools. Yes, I know that there was a $5 charge for the physicals; but, that money went to the board of ed ucation for equipment. The doctors who provided the physicals performed the physicals free of charge, the hospital donated the equipment. And, the physical therapy department of the hospital organized the event. The hospital recently conducted a two day seminar on athletic injuries at the Houston County Agricultural Building. Athletic trainers from outside the county were brought in to conduct classes at the seminar, classes on everything from shin splints to throwing mechanics to how to treat a shin splint. The coaches were even treated to a cat fish diner the second day. If you have attended even the most basic of seminars, you xnow the cost of a seminar runs S3O or more. Yet, Perry Hospital put on the seminar free of charge. And, I'm not saying that Perry Hospital docs not get anything out of these free programs to the local high schools. Even Jim Peak, ad ministrator at the hospital, will admit that the hospital gets a great public relations reward from the services. The hospital also gets in some preventative treatment, which saves costs and time if an athlete does have to be admitted. But, the hospital does not have to do what they do. Most high schools are able to find doctors that will provide free or reduced priced physicals; but very few hospitals will provide free full time athletic trainers. And, the rewards they get out of the program probably do not match the money they put into the pro gram. I’m sure that there arc other public relations and marketing strategics that the hospital could do to bring in the same amount of goodwill they get from the physical therapy program at a reduced cost. But, as Peak points out, the hospital is a member of the com munity. This is a way that the hos pital can give back f o the commu nity. The program serves all strata of the community, since it serves the community's athletes, who come from all strata of the commu nity. The program helps those who couldn't afford the service on a regu lar basis, as well as those who can. Although the presence of the trainers is hard to miss on the side lines at games, it is something that the hospital docs quietly. It is Please see Roley, page 8A a » l up*, w ik K i *IS* * 4 •m || I Iti Mike Edgar (left), new Perry hospital athletic trainer, and Chip McCarty take a break from working on their budgets for the school year. Panther cheerleaders take camp championship By VETO F. ROLEY Sports Editor The Perry Panthers cheerleading spirited away the grand champi onship trophy at a University Cheerleaders Association camp held at Oglethorpe University last week. By winning the grand champi onship of the camp, the Panther cheerleaders will make a return ap pearance at the Citrus Bowl in Or lando, Fla. In addition to the top prize, the squad also was named the camp champion in the sideline competition, and the junior varsity group won the camp championship in the sideline competition. The ju nior varsity was also named most improved squad. Two members of the team were named to the all-star squad. LaTashia Askew took all-star honors off the varsity squad, while Katie Stephens was named off the junior varsity squad. "UCA all-stars," said chcerlead ing coach Elaine Stephens," are se lected independently from the Local softball starts Monday, Aug. 1 Both Westfield and Perry High School will start their softball seasons with the first day of practice Monday, Aug. 1. Westfield Hornets head coach Billy Sellers said that his players should report to the field at Westfield at 10 a.m. He said that all his players should bring gloves Coaches learn much at seminar By VETO F. ROLEY Sports Editor Over 30 coaches learned how to handle sports injuries Tuesday and Wednesday at an athletic injury seminar sponsored by Perry Hospi tal. Coaches learned about how to properly fit athletic equipment, stretching and flexibility, C.P.R., heat illness, strength training, nu trition, speed training, shin splints, neck and back injuries, ankle in juries, shoulder mechanics and turf toe in the seminar. Perry Hospital athletic trainer Chip McCarty, who organized the seminar, said that a lot coaches had degrees in English, social studies and other fields, and had not taken basic athletic training classes. He said the coaches indicated that they would like to see a lot more hands on, basic skills demonstrated such as taping knees and ankles. "One coach told me that nobody seems to care about the coaches," said McCarty, "and that we should do this every year." McCarty said the purpose behind the seminar was to give some of the coaches a basic knowledge of athletic training so that they could provide first .response care "until qualified personnel got to the ath- Fish will bite This is the time of year that a lot of old timers called dog days. ' I'm not at all certain where the term originated, but it means, in general, that everything tends to slow down drastically because of the heat. And, late July through the middle of September has some aw fully hot days. Fishing seems to suffer just as much during this time, and catching a good mess of them seems nearly impossible. Really, the fish arc still where they were several weeks before; but, it’s a lot more aggravat W V ti°v%JUsT4 W I rr-Q.ll IST! fl Perry High School cheerleaders LaTashia Askew (left) and Katie Stephens were named to the all-star team at a University Cheerleaders Association Camp last week. schools. Candidates are evaluated by college staff and cheerleaders from across the United States." She said only seven percent of the partici pants in UCA camps nationwide were named all-stars. "I think this is the closest thing to Marine boot camp," said Stephens of the week. "They do a and other equipment they need or want. Perry High School head coach Kelly Britsky said that her players should meet at the Perry High School gym at 3 p.m. for tryouts. They also need to bring their gloves. i ■ ■ d^PWk J^H^HRf r ■ - ./■(> * K#JFwLj. gj&^r.’ • •’•'' r >' • ■» <^ > ? T — v r *. 1 *•> * .^fl John Hay demonstrates on former Perry High School standout basketball player Tarvis Felton the method for taping a shin splint as Perry High School coaches (l-r) lete." He noted that while Perry Hospital provided trainers to West field and Perry High School, many teams did not have qualified trainers on the sidelines. The seminar was also designed to educate a coach about what hap pens when a trainer goes on the field so that he could "understand in the hot days of July-September, but when its cool ing to get them to bite. There are couple of things that you can do to help your chance in catching a few fish. One thing you can do is to fish during the hours of darkness, prefer ably from about 12 midnight to about three or four in the morning. Fish tend to feed a little more when the water cools even a couple of de grees. One of the favorite methods for catching bass, crappic and white bass is to fish lighted docks that arc near deeper water. The key here is Houston Times-Journal better job of teaching technique, be cause you have the best in tech niques (teaching at the camp), and the latest rule changes." In addition to learning all of the material the cheerleaders will use during the season, Stephens said the teams learned important safety and (pyramid) building techniques. what we are doing," said McCarty. Perry High School head coach John Stephens said the seminar was very practical in nature. He noted that he went to a lot of seminars and clinics where the information was presented at a "different level" from the coach's level. Stephens said that he had gotten k I Gone L Fishing I i David and I SusanneAndel deeper water. The lights will draw the bugs, which draw the baitfish. Bass will will come out of deep wa ter several times during the night to feed on die easy prey. Noisy topwalcr lures and plastic Saturday, July 30,1994 "H0u5t0n Times-Journal Page 6A Mike Edgar joins Perry Hospital as athletic trainer for high schools By VETO F. ROLEY Sports Editor Mike Edgar feels like he is in the big city. When he was interviewing for the job of athletic trainer with Perry Hospital, Edgar was with Chip McCarty, also an athletic trainer at Perry Hospital, when he was told that Perry was a typical small Southern town. However, Edgar quickly corrected McCarty, letting him know Perry was a large town, having several stoplights in town. New Blockton, Ala., the home town of Edgar, has only one traffic light. McCarty said that Edgar's small town values were one of the reasons that he got the job as the second athletic trainer at Perry Hospital. "We knew that we had to bring the right person in," said McCarty. "We had to bring someone in who could work well with me and, more importantly, work well with the kids and the community. We have some of the same policies." Last year, McCarty was the only athletic trainer on staff at Perry Hospital, and was responsible for all the programs at Westfield and Perry High School. Jim Peak, ad ministrator for the hospital, said the move to hire Edgar was made to improve the coverage of the pro gram. "We had one trainer covering two schools," said Peak, who said that a contract trainer was hired for two games of the football season. With the different seasons and prac tices of the two schools, Peak said that one person was pretty much stretched out. At times, said Peak and Mc- Carty, McCarty put in seven day weeks, working over 60 hours a week. "That was not in the best in terest of (McCarty)," said Peak. "I didn't ask for help," said Mc- Carty. "They (the hospital) came to me and asked if I wanted help." Even though Edgar will provide help for McCarty, McCarty will still be at both schools, with the two trainers rotating between the schools, allowing the athletes at each school to become familiar with each of the trainers and vice versa, and making it where Mc- Carty will not have to choose one school over another. "With me be- Elaine Stephens (cheerleading), John Stephens (AD/head football) and Bob Jones (head baseball/defensive football coordinator) look on. several things from the seminar, in cluding some information on throwing mechanics. "Everything in here is valuable stuff that you don't learn in college or anywhere else," said Westfield Schools head coach Ronnie Jones. "All coaches need to be at this thing, especially coaches that don't worms arc a favorite among the dock fishermen. Night fishing is an entirely dif ferent world if you have never been. Before you go out and tackle such an event, there are a couple of things that you might want to do to make your outing a little easier. The first thing is to know the area you are fishing so that you can nav igate in the darkness. Landmarks in the dark don't look anything like they do in the daylight. Always carry a light jacket and ran suit and a couple of good work- ing in the community so long,” said McCarty, ”1 can't choose one school over the other." Even though Edgar is from a small town, he has seen major col lege competition, coming from Di vision I-AA power Troy State'. In their last year in N.C.A.A. Divi sion II football, the Trojans made it to the semi-final round. After spending two years between Divi sion II and Division I-AA, the Tro jans made an immediate impact on the Division I-AA ranks, bowing out in the semi-final round again. Edgar was a trainer on all four of those teams. He does not see a problem step ping down from the Division I-AA arena to high school sports. "As a general rule, athletes strive to better themselves. The mindset (in high school and college players) is the same—to work hard to get better and try to win ballgames." "I love being on the field," said Edgar. "A lot of trainers wind up in clinics, but I'm not an indoors per son. "I really like working with kids. You can be an adult-type model, and you can be a friend." Edgar said that he became a trainer because it allowed him to participate in sports at the high school level without having to go into coaching. "I didn't care about coaching, about Xs and Os; but, I enjoyed working in sports," Edgars said. "I've seen a lot of kids who could've been helped (with injuries), who could've went a long way if they had someone to help them." "Mike's going to be a tremen dous asset to the program," said McCarty. "What we liked about Mike is that he has a lot of on-field football experience, as well as a well rounded background in all sports," said Peak. "He will fit in well with a small community, and do well with the kids as well as with par ents and coaches." "We're excited," said Peak. "We think with two trainers we are go ing to be able to give the kids bet ter coverage than last year." "Everybody that I've meet so far has been real nice," said Edgar. "It is the personality of a small town." have trainers." McCarty said that 34 coaches at tended the seminar, double the number from last year. He said that coaches from all over the Middle Georgia area were at the seminar, with good representation from Westfield, Perry High School and Perry Middle School. tng flashlights. Also, make certain that your boat is in good working order for night fishing and has all of the necessary lights in working order and other required equipment. If night fishing is not your game, and it's not mine, then you may want to limit your fishing to early morning hours before the sun gets up, and late in the evening just before sunset. This is fnore our speed, except we will stay a couple of hours after the sun gets up and fish the dropoffs and points after the Please see Fishing, page 8A