An image of WashU’s new sports performance center that was opened early this semester. (Elle Su | Student Life.)

This spring, a Washington University student-athlete strolled into the training room for a 12:30 appointment for an appointment for shoulder maintenance. They walked out of the Athletic Center at 4 p.m., having spent almost four hours in the training room. 

The player, who requested to stay anonymous to maintain relationships with the coaching and athletic department staff but will be referred to as Avery, was completely understanding about not being prioritized. “I was like, ‘I don’t have to be anywhere until four.’ And they’re apologizing, and I’m like, ‘Oh, don’t worry.’ And then it’s 3:30, and they’re getting about 5,000 questions from other people.” 

The problem with staffing and student care in the training room has been a longstanding issue. With over 500 student-athletes and just four athletic trainers — the staff was operating with only three over the fall  — the training room is “grossly understaffed,” said a former Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) executive member, which is the group that acts as a liaison between the Athletic Department administrators and student-athletes.  

“You have all these athletes who are dealing with orthopedic injuries, seeking rehab at off-campus places because they can’t get the individualized attention that they need in the training room because we don’t have enough eyes,” they said.  

It’s an issue that has major consequences for teams and individual athletes, like distance runner Griffin Walsh. After experiencing discomfort that transitioned to pain after his first indoor season running for the Bears, his injury kept him out of full training until October, when he found through gait analysis that addressed his overstriding.  

“I feel like I got the care that I needed in the sense that I was given exercises when everything was going well,” Walsh said. “But I could definitely feel the effects of there being three full-time trainers and 500 plus student-athletes. With a sport where injuries, especially this year, were pretty common, to not have the full attention that you need can be a little frustrating.” 

In a training room that Walsh described as “hard to get on the radar,” athletes have improvised.  Members from the soccer team have taped each others’ ankles before games. If a player is injured during practice, it’s up to their teammates to take their shoes off and run the stairs down to the training room to get help. Sometimes, they get down to the bottom floor of the AC to get the message that a trainer is busy with another athlete or isn’t there at all. And during away travel, there often isn’t sufficient staff to travel with the team.  

“We’ve had to travel without a trainer, which is always tough,” said SAAC Health and Wellness chair and women’s soccer player Ellie Brauner. “People have very specific needs for their injuries that aren’t being met. And it’s difficult to transition that to another team’s training room — like, there’s only so much they can do and what they understand about us individually.”

Across the board, athletes acknowledged the time and effort of the athletic trainers, pointing out individuals like athletic trainer Jackee Hill, who Avery said went “above her pay grade and job description every day to take care of us.”  

“We definitely try to show our appreciation to them, in a nice way,” Brauner said. “As in, thanks for your hard work, because I know they understand.”

Athletes were cognizant of the long hours and demands of the trainers’ day-to-day schedules.  “Our trainers get worked to hell, and they get treated like sh*t,” Avery said. “That’s why it feels like no one wants to sit down with you: it’s because they don’t have time. And they deserve more, to be quite honest with you. There’s nothing [the athletes themselves] can really do except for being kind, courteous, and have good communication.” 

It’s frequently been up to captains and seniors to advocate for their teams, speaking with their team’s administrative liaison about getting athletes the care that they need in the training room. 

 “There’s been a variety of conversations going on across all teams,” said SAAC president and softball captain Alex Rubin. “More help is better — it’s always good. It’s definitely something that everyone’s on the same page on, wanting more.” 

SAAC members have advocated for the installation of TeamBuildr, a software that sets a workout in advance so that athletes can see their rehab routines in advance of coming into the training room. The athletic department has not approved that request, and SAAC members said they cited the difficulty of tailoring programs to individual athletes and high cost. 

Changing national regulations have posed a challenge for athletic departments across the country while looking for new sports medicine staff. A bachelor’s degree is no longer sufficient for certification, with staff needing a Master of Athletic Training (MAT) to become a certified athletic trainer. That has decreased the number of certified athletic trainers, creating a widespread labor shortage as a result of the new professional requirements.  

The WashU Athletic Department has had three or four trainers on their sports medicine staff over the past year. Emory University, another UAA conference member, has seven individuals listed under their training room staff, including a Coordinator of Mental Health Services in Athletics and Recreation. New York University, University of Chicago, and University of Rochester have had five athletic trainers on staff.

“It’s crazy, especially because compared to a DI institution that has an assigned athletic trainer to every team,” the former SAAC member said. “We have 500 plus student-athletes that are trying to seek attention right now. With three athletic trainers, the ratio was really skewed.”

“If WashU wants to continue such a prestigious athletics program along with their academics, it’s going to have to be addressed,” Avery said.

As of the time of publication, the Athletic Department had not responded to request for comment.