Most fans would say one of the worst moments watching sports is seeing an athlete in pain on the ground. Teammates surround the injured player, then quickly wave for help. On rush the trainers, there to treat athletes when they’re injured during a game.
Trainers are typically overlooked during sports because fans do not want them to come on the field. If the team trainer needs to come out, it means a player is injured. However, trainers do not just work during games. After practice, when bodies are tired, trainers have ice. When an athlete gets injured, trainers are the ones to treat and rehabilitate them.
This year, the sports medicine staff at St. Bonaventure University is made up of all new trainers. Brad Pruett, the director of sports medicine, said that the transition of having an all-new staff was not as difficult as it would have been if there was returning staff. Sports assignments are being done differently than before Pruett took over, and he said having a staff of new trainers made it easier to do.
Pruett joins St. Bonaventure from fellow Atlantic 10 school Virginia Commonwealth University. He graduated from Longwood University with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with a concentration in Athletic Training. He received his Master’s from VCU in Exercise Science. Before coming to St. Bonaventure, Pruett was employed by other Division I schools, including most recently two years at Virginia Commonwealth University.
At Bonaventure, Pruett is the trainer for men’s and women’s cross country and baseball, and he has experience working with volleyball, field hockey, golf and basketball.
Joining Pruett are three other full-time trainers and two interns from Central Michigan University. Seth Tisdale is the trainer for men’s basketball and men’s golf, Lexi Hughes is the trainer for women’s basketball and men’s and women’s tennis, and Caileigh Landrigan is the trainer for women’s lacrosse and men’s and women’s swimming. Danielle Purgar is an intern trainer for women’s soccer, and Josh Eddy is an intern trainer for men’s soccer.
Pruett said he was impressed by the facilities St. Bonaventure has been renovating, such as the Marra Athletics Field Complex and Joyce Field, and that the updates show the university is committed to the success of the athletic programs.
“Obviously the Reilly Center is going through changes right now, so it is way nicer. The new jumbotron in the middle is awesome, and the floor looks incredible,” said Pruett. “You can tell there have been recent investments in the soccer and lacrosse facility with the turf. Softball looks great too, and the baseball turf field looks good.”
As for the sports medicine area in the basement of the Reilly Center, Pruett said despite being an old building, built in 1966, it has good facilities.
“They are a little dated, so they are a little smaller than we would like, but it does provide that quaint and close atmosphere that you look for,” said Pruett. “It definitely provides the opportunity for everyone to get to know everybody. It is not just one person with one sport, and that is the only people that my staff knows… Seth knows a lot of the women’s soccer players, and I know a lot of his basketball players, and Lexi knows my baseball players. It provides an atmosphere so that we can work together.”
And although he does not work with strength and conditioning, Pruett spoke highly of the work being done by coach Fiske.
“As far as strength and conditioning, I know that space is always a concern when you are dealing with throwing heavy objects around,” said Pruett. “But, coach Fiske utilizes that space very, very well and he does what he needs to do to make our student athletes better.”
Pruett said his staff is focusing more on therapeutic exercise as opposed to modality-based treatment and rehab. He also said he believes the standard of care that the staff has been providing in the short time they have been here has been elevated.
Looking at the future of the sports medicine department, Pruett wants to raise the level of care even higher, which he says in turn will make the university better as a whole.
“The healthier we can keep them, the more productive they will be, not only on the field of competition, but in the classroom as well,” said Pruett.
signorra15@bonaventure.edu
