Achy athletes kneed for new trainer

So far this 2022-2023 school year, there have been more knee injuries than in the past, according to Milton athletic officials.

Athletic Director Mr. Rod Harris said this could be because the athletes’ bodies are getting used to the school’s new turf field.

It seems like at first, there were more injuries, added Athletic Trainer Mr. Matt Gelbaugh.

“After that, it has kind of faded out. So, if you look at the big picture, we’re probably right on par with years before [in relation to the amount of athletic injuries],” said Mr. Gelbaugh.

Mr. Gelbaugh said the most common athletic injuries this year have been “overuse” injuries, where the tendons and/or muscles are inflamed.

There have been a few ACL tears and concussions this year, he added.

According to Mr. Gelbaugh, the most common athletic injuries, in general, are sprains or strains.

The best way to prevent injuries is doing weight room strength training and stretching in the off season, added Mr. Gelbaugh.

“I try to treat everybody the same and as fairly as possible,” said Mr. Gelbaugh. “Every injury should be taken very seriously.”

One injury that stood out to him was Sophomore Christopher Doyle’s knee injury, according to Mr. Gelbaugh. Christopher has played football for five to six years and wrestled for eight years.

On Aug. 20, during a football scrimmage against Montgomery, Christopher said he tore his ACL, damaged his MCL, LCL, had a complex tear to his meniscus and a bone contusion.

“It was just a routine run play. (The) planted guy’s leg came behind mine, pushed my bone up, and then it just snapped back,” explained Christopher.

He said he had about a two-hour surgery to repair the ACL and LCL, tighten the MCL and clean his meniscus.

According to Christopher, he is unable to play football or wrestle for at least a year.

Since Sept. 12, Christopher has been wearing a knee brace in addition to crutches. He said he has just recently started to ween himself off using crutches.

He added that he has been doing rehabilitation training, such as “standing, working on walking, getting my range of motion back up to be able to, hopefully, lose the brace to walk.”

Mr. Gelbaugh helped to initially diagnose him and continues every day after school to help “push” him to be able to get to that full range of motion, according to Christopher.

“He’s pretty much helped mentally—(he) makes me laugh through the pain,” he added.

Christopher said Mr. Gelbaugh is “really good” at making sure injured athletes stay on task and being focused on what they have to do to get better.

“He is an amazing trainer for our school and I can tell he really likes everyone,” said Christopher.

Mr. Harris added that when it comes to injuries like Christopher’s, the team has to “rally around each other and the next player in line needs to step up.”