Christian Sopkowiak/Winonan

Stacey Czaplewski sees her job as an athletic trainer as more of an emotional experience than a medical profession.

“The athletes come in at 17 or 18 and to be able to watch the athletes grow and become a better human being, a responsible human being, and to watch them mature,” Czaplewski said. “That is a big piece of the profession that I really enjoy.”

Czaplewski is the head of the athletic trainers at Winona State University. She is a 15-year veteran of the profession at Winona State. Her duties and those of her profession often work away from the eyes of the public.

“We are really here to make sure that the student athlete is being protected and being cared for in an appropriate manner,” Czaplewski said.

Czaplewski began her academic career at Iowa State where she received her undergraduate degree for athletic training. She went on to obtain her master’s degree in education at Tusculum, Tenn. and eventually, after stints at Gundersen Lutheran and Winona Health, was hired to be the head athletic trainer at Winona State.

“I grew up in Winona; I went to Iowa State; and then from there, down to Tennessee, and after that I went to Gundersen Lutheran,” Czaplewski said. “Then I did a couple of stints with the United States Olympic committee, I worked with the women’s soccer team.”

Czaplewski explained that she would spend her summers with the Olympic athletes and she would spend the rest of the year with the student athletes at Winona State.

“Providing health care to all of our student athletes here, that’s the number one priority that we have,” Czaplewski said. “That entails pre-treatments prior to their practices; we are at the majority of the athletic teams’ practices.”

The athletic trainers at Winona State prepare and aid student athletes four hours before the game, during the whole game, and two hours afterwards. “If we didn’t have certified athletic trainers, there wouldn’t be college athletics, quite honestly,” Czaplewski said.

Tom Sawyer, the head football coach at Winona State, said he agrees. “We cannot function without them. You have to have them on the road with you, you have to travel with them, on the buses, student trainers as well as full time.”

Sawyer said that the student athletes feel a sense of comfort with the athletic trainers. They are afraid to mention such things as concussions to their coaches because they do not want to disappoint them.

However, they will approach the athletic trainers because the relationship is different.

“Stacey has a lot different conversations with an athlete than their position coach does about that same injury,” Sawyer said. “Because, they won’t tell their coach that they are hurt because they do not want to miss playing time. But, they will tell the trainer because she has a different relationship with that player. They know that she is out for them.”

Stacey is proud to be a part of Winona State because the of the athletic trainers, coaching staff and available facilities.

“It’s really neat to be able to, as a student-athlete, walk down a hallway and have the football coach say hello, or the women’s basketball coach says hi. That’s what’s really special here, everyone wants to see everyone succeed,” Czaplewski said. “And, I would say, that isn’t the norm in most places.”

The athletic trainers and the athletic community at Winona State care much more about the person than the number on his or her back. They strive to get to know the person behind the jersey.

“Getting to know them [student-athletes] and seeing them grow is my favorite part of the job. Quite honestly, it’s really fun to get to know our great coaching staff as well. Just building those relationships and those friendships is a lot of fun,” Czaplewski said.

Czaplewski said dealing with 110 football players could create a much more different challenge. Dealing with all of the different personalities and pasts can be a hard task. However, Czaplewski knows that through her experiences with those athletes, she will become a better person. Hearing their stories helps her in ways she never thought possible.

“It’s really nice to hear those stories because it shows how far they have come, and it shows their success as a person,” Czaplewski said.

Czaplewski also explained athletic training is a common profession, but not many people know about the good that the trainers do.

“Athletic training is a very difficult profession,” Czaplewski said. “However, I think you’re given a lot back that makes you realize how important it is as a profession. And even though there aren’t a lot of thank you’s, sometimes, that one or two that you get that you aren’t expecting carries a long way to keep you going.”

Contact Christian at [email protected]