She Is Always There For The Athletes

While many college students interested in athletics and rehabilitation go into the field of physical therapy, the choice was simple for Berlin High School athletic trainer Kristin Applegate.

"I was always into sports so I always wanted to go into athletic training," said Applegate, a New Hampshire native in her first year as BHS trainer. "I have always played sports on teams so to not be able to play again left a void. Doing this for a living fills that void. I like to be part of a team. To take a kid from an injury through the rehab process and get them back to full participation is a great feeling."

Applegate played three sports at one of the top high schools in New Hampshire, Pinkerton Academy in Derry. The school has 4,000 students and has an outstanding athletic program. While at Pinkerton, Applegate played volleyball, basketball and lacrosse.

She then attended Division II Merrimack College and continued to play volleyball. She was named to the All-Conference teams her junior and senior year and helped the team to its first-ever NCAA appearance. Merrimack also won a conference championship as well.

From Merrimack, she moved to the University of Connecticut, where she was the head athletic trainer for the volleyball and softball teams.

"When I finished at UConn I was looking for a high school where I would fit in," she said. "At UConn we traveled a lot and I didn't want to travel that much so high school seemed like a better fit. At UConn we were on a flight every weekend. It was fun but at the same time it was hard."

She is employed by Select Physical Therapy on New Britain Road in Berlin and works clinic hours there. She is contracted to work 30 hours a week at Berlin High School.

"I'm at the school from 2 to 6 p.m. every day when there are no home games," Applegate said. "When there is a home game, I'm here from 2 p.m. until the game is over. I travel with the football team and to any tournament games."

Applegate said Berlin High School and the town of Berlin are similar to her upbringing.

"I really enjoy the town," she said. "The whole town is so involved in the high school program. They get a lot of fans at all the games and they work hard to make it a great experience for the kids. All the teams are very successful so that helps too."

Applegate says that while athletic trainers at high schools are much more prevalent than they were in the past, part of her job is still to educate the parents as to what they can expect for services.

"We have a parents meeting at the beginning of the seasons and I go through what an athletic trainer does for the athletes at the school," she said. "A lot of people don’t know what we do even though we are more and more recognized. We try to talk to them about nutrition and what their sons and daughters can expect if they get injured."

Applegate will take an injured athlete from injury to full recovery.

"We deal with a lot of ankle sprains right up to serious meniscus tears to a lot of blood in a sport like wrestling," Applegate said. "We will see a lot of less serious injuries but we can see some serious ones as well. We can do some of the rehabilitation here after school but we can also send the athletes to Select because they have more modalities than we do here. Bob Becker is really established in town and knows all the coaches very well and has their trust so that is another important factor."

Applegate is the third straight female trainer at BHS and said that respect from male athletes has never been a problem.

"Being that they have had female trainers before helps," she said. "The boys have been very respectful. I can walk into a locker room, at the proper times, of course, and there has never been a problem or inappropriate comment.

"I'm happy here at Berlin right now. I loved it at UConn but the hours were even more demanding than they are here. I'm young enough (she is 24) that it fits into what I am looking for and love to do."