By Morgan Armitage
Sports Editor

The Clackamas Print: Kevin Arizo is the athletic trainer here at CCC and has been since 2007. In that time, he’s seen a myriad of problems and athletes, and he knows a thing or two about being a trainer. I’m your host, Morgan Armitage, and this is Kevin Arizo.

Kevin Arizo: I hurt my knee in high school as a sophomore. And then my junior, senior year, I worked with my athletic trainer like I did my rehab with him. And then I kind of, not shadowed him, but kind of learned what he was doing, and I would help him. And then, he gave me a job and he paid me my senior year. Like my junior year. I just kind of hung out. And senior year, he paid me to be there to kind of help him. And so kind of got me into the field and really interested in it. So going to college, like I was, debating pursuing this versus physical therapy.

TCP: What injuries do you see most often, and how do you treat them?

Arizo: broken hearts. I think every year is different. Ankles is probably the more, universal injury that’s holding people out of sports. But if we’re just talking about like overall, it’s usually just some kind of muscle strain, some kind of like soreness from usually getting back in shape or getting used to the new practice regime. And so I see that, versus like people that get held out, it’s usually ankles and joints, you know, is usually what holds them out versus muscles. Just kind of sometimes they’ll work through it little bit more.

TCP: What kind of advice do you give to athletes?

Arizo: I mean, I give a lot of advice, but I think the first thing that comes to my mind is, just trying to better them as a person, Overall, eating healthier, getting better sleep. Just taking care of their body that way, right? Obviously the mental health portion of it is important, but I don’t think I talk to them a ton about that. But, trying to make sure that they know if they have a big injury, make sure they’re still involved. They don’t just check out. If it’s, you know, small injuries, just kind of making sure that we keep them in check of where they’re at, what their expectation is, and what my realistic opinion would be though, when they would be able to get it back and how much they can do, and, trying to make sure that that stays on the same line of the coaches, you see, making sure both the coaches and athletes kind of have this similar idea of where they’re at. 

TCP: So you would say, like, you help not just with the physical aspect, but like at least a little bit with the mental aspect?

Arizo: I wouldn’t say a little. I would say there’s a lot of mental [help], and not that I’m doing mental therapy on it, but like, I think there’s some athletes that need to know how bad their injuries. And so being able to understand that portion of it. And, a lot of athletes have to push even though it hurts a little bit, like knowing that pain isn’t an injury. So understanding that. But I think there’s definitely a lot of physical exercise and, you know, treatment. There’s definitely a mental component of making sure they’re comfortable with what they’re doing and where they’re at.

Arizo:I really enjoy being at this level. I think that junior colleges, everybody’s adults now, so they’re learning more about themselves, more about how to be an athlete. And my coaching staff is really good to me, and how they let me take care of the athletes and trust what I do. And I think that a big portion of being an athletic trainer is getting people to trust you, and earn your respect. And so that makes my job better when I have that, surrounded by good kids, kids that actually listen to me, so I enjoy my job.