It took five years to get there, but this summer Jay Myers worked with Olympic athletes at the National Training Center in Lake Placid, New York.
“I think that for anyone in Sports Medicine or athletic training, working with athletes of that caliber is really something to aspire to,” he said.
The 31-year-old Myers, who has been working as a Clinical Instructor in USM’s Sports Medicine department for three years, has worked with Division I, II, and III teams in the past, and has been an athletic educator since getting his Masters degree in Athletic Training seven years ago. He applied for the Olympic training volunteership in 1996, and, like all other applicants, was given a number. This year, his number came up, and Myers spent two weeks working intensively with injured aspiring Olympians.
During most of his time in Lake Placid, Myers was on call for 24 hours a day, along with other trainers and orthopedic physicians. Together they dealt with everything from prevention to acute injury.
“Most people don’t know how much goes on behind the scenes, but a trainer works with an athlete before and after an injury, from strength and conditioning to rehabilitation. It runs the whole gamut of dealing with an athlete’s career,” Myers said.
Myers worked with members of the US Women’s’ Bobsled team, who will be competing in a medal event for the first time in this year’s Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, as well as the US Women’s Hockey team and Nordic ski jumpers. The Bobsled team took up much of his time.
“They get a lot of chronic lower back pain and injury,” he said. “Olympic athletes make such a sacrifice. They put their lives on hold for the small chance of success at the games. If they get an injury, every day counts, and that’s where the importance of having good trainers comes in.”
Myers hopes that his stint at this year’s Training Camp will open the door to more placements within the national circuit in the future, either with the Olympics, the Pan Am Games, or the World Games.
“The Center was interesting,” Myers said. “I worked a lot, and I got a lot of tips from being around the full-time people. And the athletes were great, like everyday people. They weren’t primadonnas. They were humbled by the chance to be representing their countries.”