If every school had an athletic trainer as dedicated, knowledgeable and passionate about their work, there’s no doubt the number of youth sports injuries would significantly drop, while the overall athletic performance would noticeably increase. But Kelly Dike is one of a kind and it’s certain that very few school athletic programs have an athletic trainer as dedicated and experienced.
Born and raised in Wisconsin, Kelly has over 12 years of experience serving the South Oldham community. She works as an employee for Baptist Sports Medicine with a full-time job at South Oldham High School.
Becoming a Certified Athletic Trainer
While many of us go through college having no idea what we really want to do for a long-term career, Kelly was fortunate. After suffering from several knee injuries in high school, she was sent to her school athletic trainer. She explains: “When I got exposed to the profession as a patient, I just realized, wow, this is really cool … this is something I’d love to do.”
After graduating from high school, Kelly attended Winona State University in Minnesota, earning a B.S. in Exercise Science. And then she went on to Indiana State to complete her Master’s Degree. The summer before starting graduate school, Kelly landed an internship at a Lexington Sports Medicine Clinic. “I really liked Kentucky,” she explains, “and I have some extended family in Oldham County so that was definitely a location that I was interested in…” But at graduation time, there weren’t any job openings in the area, so Kelly went home to live with her parents while looking for a job. Three weeks later she was offered a position in a small school near Lansing, Michigan and off she moved.
In the spring of 2005, Kelly saw a job opening serving South Oldham High School and she decided to apply. After a series of interviews, she was very excited to be offered the position, but would only accept under the condition that she could finish out the school year she’d already started in Michigan. She was dedicated to the athletes and the school system that she was serving and didn’t want to leave them during the middle of the school year. This is just one small example of the type of character Kelly exudes.
A Day in the Life of a Nationally Certified and State Licensed High School Athletic Trainer
Kelly’s day varies significantly depending on the time of year but one thing that remains a constant – her work is almost always busy. For example, during the summer when many educators enjoy some R&R, Kelly is immersed in preseason which kicks off July 15th. Preseason field hockey practice generally goes from 6 a.m. until 8 a.m. followed by soccer from 8 a.m. until 10 a.m. Cross country is often in the morning too, and then around 2 p.m. in the afternoon football starts. (more…)
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