08/09/2026
🏈💙 HEY, PANTHER NATION! 🐾
We hope everyone is having a GREAT weekend! We are officially T-9 DAYS until kickoff, and the excitement is REAL! 🙌🏻
Our athletes have been working extremely hard all summer to prepare for the season, and behind the scenes, our Sports Medicine team has been putting in the work too. Our Athletic Trainer Aides have spent countless hours learning, practicing, showing up, and making sure they are ready to take care of our football players when it matters most.
We are SO thankful for every single one of these kiddos who has volunteered their time, stepped up when needed, and consistently shown up day in and day out. They have become such an important part of our program, and we truly couldn’t do this without them! 💙
🩺 On Friday, we tackled one of the most important emergency skills our aides will learn: SPINAL IMMOBILIZATION.
Our students spent time learning and practicing proper spine boarding techniques and what their roles may look like in the event of a suspected spinal injury. They worked through:
▪️ Properly maintaining C-spine stabilization
▪️ Log rolling an athlete
▪️ Helmet and shoulder pad removal
▪️ Coordinating a lift onto a spine board
▪️ Understanding individual roles during an emergency
▪️ Communicating effectively as a team
These skills are VITAL because emergencies don’t always happen according to plan. In the event of a serious injury, everyone on the field needs to know their role, communicate clearly, and trust the person working beside them.
Our goal is NEVER for something bad to happen to one of our athletes. But if it does, we want our staff and students to be as prepared as possible.
Practice makes progress. Consistency builds confidence. Preparation saves time. 💪🏻
And now we want to hear from YOU, Panther Nation! 👇🏻
💭 What is something YOU think is vital on the football field—during practice or a game?
💭 What do you think Sports Medicine staffs can do better to support athletes, coaches, and teams?
Drop your thoughts in the comments! We love hearing from our Panther community and learning from the people who support us every step of the way.
T-9 DAYS. ⏰🏈
The season is almost here. Our kids are ready. Our athletes are ready. And our Sports Medicine team is ready to put everything we’ve learned this summer into action.
Go Panthers! 🐾💙🏈