April 4, 2018 at 5:30 p.m.
Hauser job is dream come true for trainer
Amy Shipp, a 2002 Hauser graduate who technically is an employee of Columbus Regional Hospital, clarified her responsibilities with HSJ-Online. She said her involvement, which includes standing by at every varsity and junior varsity home game in case of student injury, also encompasses injury prevention, therapeutic intervention and physical rehabilitation, starting in junior high.
"If you have a body, you're an athlete," she said, quoting a Nike ad.
The Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp. added Shipp to its staff Oct. 20 after signing an agreement that specifies the hospital will pay the athletic trainer's salary and benefits. In exchange, the school corporation is providing the hospital with free advertising and is making CRH its exclusive provider of medical services in case a student has to be taken in for treatment of injuries too serious to handle on site.
J.P. Mayer, principal of Hauser Sr. High School, has said the corporation had been pressing its luck for years by not having an athletic trainer at its games. He said that although the school corporation paid to provide Shipp with an office and medical supplies, the value of the time saved by not having to call an ambulance all the way from Columbus in case of an emergency cannot be overstated.
Shipp works 25 hours a week -- and is loving every minute of it.
"This has been a long-term goal of mine, to be able to provide athletic training services to Hauser's athletes/staff and surrounding communities," she said. "To see it come to fruition is a wonderful thing."
One might even say it's a dream come true.
"Athletics have always played a major role in my life, from being a competitive athlete in grade school through college to now being a more recreational athlete," Shipp said. "By serving within the sports medicine field, I get to constantly stay involved in athletics, living out my passion, appreciating the past and getting a front row seat in watching the evolution (of) sports, athletes and the world of medicine."
The new athletic trainer lives in Whiteland with her husband, Kyle, who coaches girls varsity basketball at Whiteland Community High School. She has a stepson, Braiden, 13, and a daughter, Charlie, 1.
She said her goal is to become a Hope resident again by building a home on farm ground her family still owns.[[In-content Ad]]
