One of the most significant changes Oklahoma City University Athletics has seen in the past year is the mantle of OCU Athletics Trainers being taken up by Kylee Warne and Mackenna Noland.
Noland and Warne were hired after the departure of the previous Athletic Trainers, along with Paige Carman who has since moved on to the University of Central Oklahoma.
Noland explained that her journey into the world of an Athletic Trainer started in high school, saying, “I took a sports medicine class, and we learned anatomy, how to tape, we learned CPR. We even got certified for the class and that just finalized that decision. I mean, I wanted to be in the medical field in some way, but with sports as well.”
Noland started her college career at Texas Tech University before completing her master’s degree at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Noland explained that her path to OCU started when she saw a job posting for the position online.
“I applied to it, not really thinking anything of it, and then a couple of months later our boss reached out to me and asked if I wanted to interview, so I drove all the way here and met Kylee and Paige and Cody, and it just seemed like a really good fit,” she said.
Warne started her career at UCO, playing soccer for the Broncos, before transferring to Southwestern Christian University, eventually returning to UCO to complete her master’s degree.
She said, “I always wanted to do physical therapy until I tore my ACL and got stuck in physical therapy and was like, oh, absolutely not.”
This changed, however, during an internship at SCU, where she credits her relationship with her mentor as being the reason she was able to get back into Sports Medicine.
“I was like, okay, I can still be around sports, I can work with athletes, that’s what I want to do,” she said.
The pair highlighted two main struggles in their first year at OCU: building relationships and coverage.
Warne explained that after the former Athletic Trainers departed, “there was a period that some of the athletes and coaches struggled with,” going on to say that the former staff was, “well-known and well-liked by athletes.”
“It took a minute for us to win them back over and have them realize that they could trust us and that we would still try to take care of them as best as we can,” she said, explaining that it was not just difficult for them, but the athletes as well.
Noland added to this by saying, “It was just gaining their trust and getting to know them as people and not just athletes, showing them that they can trust us and they’re in good hands.”
Noland explained that to help build these relationships they try to bring a unique energy to the training room.
“We try to keep it relaxed in here so when athletes come in if they want to just hang out, they can, if they want to get treatment, they can, we want it to be somewhere athletes like to be,” she said.
Warne agreed with the sentiment, saying, “One of our biggest goals was to make the athletes feel like they’re welcome.”
The other major problem that the two have faced is the amount of athletics the pair has to cover.
OCU boasts twenty-two varsity sports programs with over 350 student-athletes, meaning the duo has their work cut out for them.
“We, obviously, want to be everywhere for everyone and be everything for everyone all the time, but it is hard. I mean, we have practices that start first thing in the morning and go until last thing at night, so for about sixteen hours of the day practices run,” Warne said.
Noland confirmed this attitude by adding, “The biggest struggle is wanting to cover all the practices but just not being able to. We want to be there, and we want to make sure that everybody is safe and practicing good, but sometimes it is hard for us to be at every single practice.”
Warne explained that a job posting for another athletic trainer has been sent out on the NAIA, SSM Health, and OCU websites, but it probably won’t be filled until later this year.
To help combat this though, the team has been able to lean on, “pretty awesome” graduate student, Shakota Neal, who started her educational journey at the University of Oklahoma, moving to UCO to pursue her master’s degree.
The pair stressed the importance of mental health as well, with Warne saying, “You guys all matter, not just to your sport but as people. You guys’ matter, your mental health matters, your overall health matters. You matter as people not just as an athlete.”
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