The Team Behind the Team...

​It’s National Athletic Training Month. Woohoo! 
Who? What? I have been an athletic trainer for 30 years! The sad part is... I can walk down the street, shake someone’s hand, tell them I am an athletic trainer, and they have no idea what that is. Very sad. Very frustrating.
 
So this year I am trying to participate in the month of celebrating AT’s and educating others about what an AT is and does. My bio is below for you to get a bit of an idea. I will also be doing a Facebook live later in the month for commentary and questions. Would love for you to participate. 
 
For now, I encourage you to ‘thank’ an AT in your community. They are in high schools, some middle schools, and all college/university athletics. They keep your student athletes safe and help them recover from injuries. There is a lot to keeping the athletes safe – checking equipment, checking the playing surfaces, having an emergency plan in place, evaluating and diagnosing injuries for continued play or referral, rehab of injuries, return to play evaluations to make sure the athlete is 100% to participate, checks and balance on overzealous coaches and parents, coordination with EMS and local physicians…
 
AT’s don’t have degrees in ice-bag-making and ankle taping. Most have master’s degrees in athletic training or sports medicine. They take a national certification exam. And 49 states and DC all require licensing (CA is lagging.) 
 
So please be aware of AT’s, especially this month. We are the ‘team behind the team.’


Stacy Ford, Co-Owner Complete Wellness, ATC, LMT

Stacy is an athletic trainer, massage therapist and co-founder of Complete Wellness. She has a
degree in sports medicine and national certifications in athletic training and massage therapy.
Much of her career (25 years and counting) has been as an athletic trainer in various settings
including high school, physical therapy, fitness center, physician office, college/university,
military and federal law enforcement.

She has had many career highs including high school state championships, first round women’s
basketball to the NCAA tournament, Friday night football under the lights, minor league
basketball and football, creating specific programs, and writing P&P for schools and venues.

She considers her greatest accomplishments as working with the US Coast Guard Academy in
New London, CT and the Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI training centers at
Quantico, VA where she was able to use her skills to help sustain and advance careers.

As an athletic trainer, Stacy used a hands-on approach to help the body heal and strengthen.
She chose to work with athletes and the active population for their work ethic and mindset to
challenge the body, mind and spirit for prevention, rehabilitation and return-to-activity.

​She has since transitioned her own methods to the general population using massage therapy,
stretching techniques and simple exercises. Her goals are for her clients to leave feeling and
functioning better than when they walked in, and to have tools for use at home to continue
gains made in the session in order to ease/relieve chronic conditions.

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