Fortunately, when injuries do occur, Rensselaer student athletes are in good hands. For some, the training room is a part of their daily routine, as they try to treat injuries and maintain and improve their health. "The trainers do an excellent job," said women’s basketball player Melissa Coppola, who is known for playing hard and having multiple treatments at one time. "I think I’d fall apart if they weren’t here to help me everyday."

Head Trainer Anthony Ortolano, known to student athletes at "Ort" or "Orty," has been at RPI since 1985. Ortolano can often be seen on sidelines on football games, or on the bench during hockey games, encouraging the team and its players. Joining Ortolano are Associate Head Trainer Karen Campbell and Assistant Athletic Trainer Kit Neyland.

In addition to these three certified trainers, the students also have the services of graduate intern Chris Wheland as well as several other student intern trainers. Ortolano praised his staff, saying, "When you work with people that you don’t mind interacting with, it makes your life much more enjoyable."

These trainers play an intimate role in the life of a Rensselaer student athlete, and they take the time to get to know the people they are treating. "I like interacting with the student athletes. We get to talk to them about their daily activities and personal aspects, " Neyland said. "We also get the personal satisfaction of helping them get back out on the field."

Added Campbell, "The atmosphere athletically is exciting and fun … Helping these athletes be successful and knowing you were somewhat part of that is an incredibly rewarding feeling."

Those rewards are earned with hours of hard work. The trainers often arrive in the morning and can be on campus until late in the evening, depending on the day’s athletic events. Additionally, there are weekend trips that consume more time. "Travel happens everyday, and important events have been missed, but that’s the nature of the job," Neyland said. "I like traveling with the teams. It gives you a different perspective on the players and you get a better sense of what the athletes are all about on a more personal level." Wheland added, "There are a lot of long weekends and a lot of long days. That’s just part of the job, you gotta do it."

In addition to long hours, they also deal with various crises each day because, as the saying goes, "injuries happen." When things like this occur, Wheland added "I like the adrenaline rush I get when things happen. I like knowing what to do." Fortunately, the staff is well-prepared to handle most any crisis.

These trainers face other challenges as well, the first of which is numbers. They may have some help, but they are only three trainers and they have to serve some 600 athletes. Before practices, the facilities and the personnel are all occupied and the room turns into something of a zoo as students hustle around each other attempting to get prepared for practice.

Another problem for the trainers is that as the Rensselaer athletic program has grown in prestige, higher and higher caliber athletes have joined the program. These athletes have a higher expectation of the service they should receive from the trainers. "In the old days, someone would get hurt and I would have to chase them to treat them, because they didn’t care that much," Ortolano said. "Now we have kids that don’t want to miss a practice, much less a game. We need facilities to meet their needs."

A third problem is the lack of adequate facilities. There are currently three training rooms on campus, located in the ’87 Gym, the Armory, and the Field House. While this might seem like a lot, it really isn’t. None of the facilities contain an actual walled-off office for the staff. Additionally, despite the Institute’s status as one of "Yahoo!’s Ten Most Wired," there is only one computer for the three trainers.

Of course, there’s also the issue of privacy. As Ortolano said, "If you’re talking on the phone and you have to tell someone that they aren’t going to be able to play any more, you have to deal with the whirlpools going in the back and noise from the track."

Despite the challenges, the staff does an excellent job of helping student athletes recover and stay healthy. In helping these students recover, the trainers become listen to problems and help students grow as people in addition to helping them physically. This might be best exemplified by the fact that while I was talking with the trainers, they had just received a letter from an alumna updating them on what she had been doing.

Whether they are dealing with a future professional or someone for whom college athletics is the last stop, they treat them all with the utmost care and concern. Despite a lack of facilities, they get to know just about every athlete. This is something that most Rensselaer student athletes don’t forget.