By. Katie Schneebeck (MAT Class of 2013)
This year, I’ve had the opportunity to work at Affton High
School with Becky Stigen. She is on her 20th year in her athletic training
career.Congratulations Becky!
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| Becky Stigen ATC with SLU AT Student Katie Schneebeck |
Along with her experience at Affton, Becky also works at the
St. Louis Gymnastic Centre. It is a 21,000 square foot training center that
provides instruction for approximately 800 gymnasts. Once a week, Becky and I
see athletes and their coaches for injuries. Yes, coaches, who are flipping
athletes all day get hurt. Because they do high-flying stunts on bouncy floors
and hard beams, gymnasts are prone to many injuries. Every week, I work with a
multitude of gymnasts from 5-17 years of age and injuries ranging from broken
bones to wrist pain.
The first time I walked into the training center, a huge
smile drew across my face. My sisters and I grew up watching the movie, Nadia,
and doing cart-wheels on the front lawn. I’ve always wanted to be a gymnast! It
is incredibly magical seeing these kids live their dream. While, the margin of
gymnasts who make it to the Olympics is low, these athletes are learning very
valuable life lessons within their teams. It is truly rewarding working with
gymnasts.
The mentality in gymnastics is just like any other sport;
they want to push through the pain.
Whether they are 5 or 13 years old, they are some of the toughest
athletes with which I’ve ever worked. To give you a better perspective, a
couple weeks ago, I prescribed 3 sets of 15 backwards lunges with a twist. The
gymnast smiled at me and said with a grin, “We usually do 200 of those on each
leg.” If you ever get the opportunity to work with Becky at the St. Louis
Gymnastics Centre, take it! You’ll learn more than you can imagine.
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