Cerritos College athletes benefit every year from the efforts of athletic trainers.

The purpose of the trainers is the total well–being of an athlete. They spend most of their time helping those that have been hurt get back to full strength.

Services that are provided include injury evaluation, stretching, taping, and rehabilitation.

Brian Cable is one of the certified athletic trainers at the Cerritos College athletic training program.

“We take care of all of our athletes when they get injured, we give therapeutic exercise to help the athletes recover from their injury and get them back on the field,” said Cable.

The trainers work with athletes from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. to get them ready for practice, which usually runs until about 7 p.m.

Trainers are there for athlete’s hours before the game to get the players treated and doing rehab.

Maria Castro is also a certified athletic trainer and works side by side with Cable.

Cable and Castro both have Master’s degrees in kinesiology.

Often times there are misconceptions about the profession like confusing them with personal trainers or thinking all they do is tape.

Cable and Castro have played a key role for many of the athletes whether it’s getting them back 100 percent and keeping them there.

Sophomore basketball player Ashley Flores suffered a torn medial collateral ligament during her freshman season and credits both Cable and Castro for her recovery.

“They are incredible. When I tore my MCL they helped me in rehab and pushed me to the limit in order to get better.

“Not only have they helped me with my injuries but they have helped me in many other ways as well such as stretching the right way and so forth. They are the best trainers I have ever had,” Flores said.

The rehab process was not an easy one for Flores but she was able to make it through with the help of Cable and Castro.

“They pushed me to go to rehab everyday and strengthen my leg and really worked on me. If they didn’t have me squatting, they would stretch me and have me doing several different stretches to get back my mobility,” she said.

Few ouside of the athletics program probably realize the demads that are placed on these dedicated individuals like Cable and Castro as they protect the health and rehabilitation of players, allowing them to participate in their sports.

Students in the athletic training program, also known as student staff, are doing internship hours.

Student staff member Joseph Morān said, “Being around sports is what made me join, I want to help athletes who are injured because I dealt with a lot of injuries myself.”

Cable said, “They assist us, they help us with taping, game coverage and medical coverage. They are always with us they are not allowed to be by themselves.”

Cable and Castro serve as liaisons between trainers, coaches, doctors and even parents.

Student staff, Veronica M’Caughan expressed, “I can see myself having a family like [Castro] and working at Cerritos College. She calls us her kids all the time and when she has to leave she’s like ‘Okay time to go take care of my real kids.’”