Hustling across the court during her basketball game, Athletic Trainer Ms. Mackenzie Poole basks in the feeling of a game well-played. A passionate lover of all things sports, even as she grew older, Ms. Poole’s love for playing sports never faded, rather shifting to a love for the medical side of them, pushing her to pursue a career in the field. As the new athletic trainer on campus, Ms. Poole works alongside fellow athletic trainer Mr. John Horsley to help students in the athletic department get the treatment and care they need to succeed in their respective field. Additionally, Ms. Poole also teaches the student athletic training course, where students learn how to work in sports medicine and tag along for all the football games to help with any stretching or injuries the players encounter. Originally from Austin, Ms. Poole graduated from Kansas State University, but then decided to come back to her roots and start her education career here. Beginning her second year in education, Ms. Poole spent the previous year as an athletic trainer at Cedar Ridge High School. 

A student athletic trainer in high school herself, Ms. Poole’s love for athletic training began from a young age. Expressing that while this youth opportunity fueled her passion for training specifically, Ms. Poole was involved in the general realm of sports all throughout her childhood, playing volleyball, basketball, and track, as well as growing up loving football.

“I [have been] around sports my whole life, but I [always felt like] I wasn’t going to go professionally for any of them,” Ms. Poole said. “But [eventually, I realized] that I love sports and I still wanted to be around them, on the sidelines and stuff like that. I also wanted to be in the medical field somewhere, so this kinda fit the perfect spot.” 

Ms. Poole remembers being passionate about football even from the young age of seven, when she would sit next to her dad and yell at the TV with him. A common factor present in much of her family life, sports and being active played a major role in all aspects of Ms. Poole’s childhood, whether it was actively engaging with a sport by playing it, or enjoying watching it for entertainment. 

“I loved playing outside [as a kid], and [grew up as] the only granddaughter on both sides so I grew up with all boys,” Ms. Poole said. “I think just naturally I was already wanting to do active things like sports, and seeing my dads passion for his sport inspired me to find mine within [the same realm].”

Adapting to her new circumstances and workplace, Ms. Poole has loved getting to know all the new faces in the trainers’ office. She’s happy to have gotten really close to the student athletic trainers, which she is grateful for — especially considering she sees them everyday. However, Ms. Poole notes that every new change comes with some challenges as well. For Ms. Poole, her challenges stemmed from the move from Cedar Ridge. One main challenge that Ms. Poole encountered, is that while at Cedar Ridge they had three athletic trainers, at Westwood there are only two; because of this, there’s a much heavier amount of work that Ms. Poole is needing to get accustomed to.

“[The new workload] is nothing new or harder,” Ms. Poole said. “It’s just different. Before I had two people to kinda rely on, now it’s just me and Mr. Horsley. We rely on each other a lot more than we would if we had a third person.” 

While many people sum up an athletic trainer’s primary job to be a personal trainer-like figure, and help people with diet and workout plans, Ms. Poole states that this is actually false. Majority of an athletic trainer’s work is in the evaluation and rehab of injuries. The trainers work really closely with physical therapists, orthopedics, and other kinds of doctors to be able to help athletes. On the sidelines, the trainers are always ready in case of an injury, and if one were to happen on the field or court, they would be the people running onto the field to help. 

Looking to stay at Westwood for a while, Ms. Poole enjoys working in high school settings because of the level and age range of the students. She also likes how her position at Westwood allows her to be on a bunch of different sidelines for various sports rather than just sticking to one specific sport. 

“I really love the culture of Westwood,” Ms. Poole said. “[I love] the honor system [they] have and all the disciplinary and [other] things that make Westwood, Westwood. [Westwood] reminds me a lot of my school growing up, so I really feel like it’s a good place to be for myself right now.”