Cleveland Sports Medicine club introduces students to growing field

RIO RANCHO — When high schoolers envision taking the field on Friday nights, it is a dream usually consisting of strapping up some cleats and throwing on a helmet.

But for six Cleveland High School students, they head to the turf at Lightning Bolt Stadium with a different game plan.

“We get all of our taping supplies together, making sure that we have everything, making sure that all our water bottles are washed, clean and filled for the big game,” said Malia Mose, member of the Cleveland sports medicine staff. “We make sure we have all of our resources for ourselves as well.”

They may be tossing bandages instead of footballs, but the Storm sports medicine student team plays a big part in Cleveland athletics. Mose, Kylee Jackson, Isabella Borrego, Trinity Romero, Aaliyah Simpson and Jaislinn Chessman all work behind the scenes for Storm football to get the athletes the help they need.

“Sports medicine is all about helping athletes who are injured, getting them back into their sport, making sure they’re healthy and hydrated,” Mose said. “I think we’re just all here for the athletes and for their mental health as well, too.”

The club is not just about members helping out their classmates in their respective sports, but it also acts as a platform for students to get introduced to the medical field.

“It helps us learn and get into careers, because most of us want to pursue health careers and pre-med,” Jackson said. “It does not necessarily have to be sports, but it does help us learn about the body, rehab and medical terms in general. So it’s a very helpful program.”

A majority of the club comes from a sports background, with some of them turning to the club after dealing with injuries of their own.

“I used to play volleyball, and I ended up having to get knee surgery, and I just never really came back from that,” Romero said. “But the people who made a big difference in my life when I was going through that were my athletic trainers and my physical therapist, who kept reassuring me that I was going to get back, and they were trying their hardest to get me back.”

For others, they look at the program as a way to stay in athletics once their playing career comes to an end.

“I’ve been in volleyball for most of my life, and just athletics period,” Simpson said. “So I want to have something that I can go to afterwards, because I can’t play forever. I feel like just being able to help athletes and help them mentally and physically, it’s just really reassuring that you can still help someone out, even if you’re not on the court with them.”

No matter what their motive is, the club appreciates the opportunity the program provides, which is a platform not every high school offers.

“I personally enjoy having the health care aspect also be mixed in with the sports,” Borrego said. “I feel like it’s a cool place to have both.”

Cleveland seems to be ahead of the curve, as the sports medicine industry has steadily been growing in the last few years. According to the U.S Bureau of Labor, the athletic trainer job market will increase by 11% in the next decade.

Classes and on-field student help aren’t the only ways Cleveland gets involved, as they hold an annual “Sports Medicine Olympics” event at the school every spring.

For these high school students, soon to enter the real world, getting an introduction to a growing field is more important than the Storm’s wins and losses out on the field.

“I’ve always known that I wanted to go into medicine; I just wasn’t sure exactly what field I wanted to go into,” Chessman said. “Through this program, taking the classes, and working directly with athletes, I realized that I really love sports medicine and it’s something that I want to do.”

But talking to the club ahead of last week’s Storm matchup against Pebble Hills, you couldn’t convince them that anything was bigger than game time.

“We get hyped up, just like the football players,” Romero said as the members laughed along. “It is a long night, we gotta set our mindset, we gotta get just as excited. We grab our waters and we get ready to be out there with them and be on the front lines.”