ENID — The role of sports in our world has gone through a metamorphosis over the years to what we know it as today. So has the role of athletic trainers. From the dark ages of throwing a little dirt on an injury to today’s world and the advent of modern technology and sports medicine, athletic trainers now hold not only a prevalent role but critical role,

In Enid, one such athletic trainer is Sabrina Dierkson of Orthopaedic Associates of Enid. Last week, Enid High School announced the appointment of Dierkson as the new athletic trainer for the Plainsmen  football program. Dierkson holds athletic training degrees from Southwestern Oklahoma State, where she graduated Magna cum laude and Northern Oklahoma College and is a certified athletic trainer and is licensed.

When Dierkson, 31, decided to make training a career, it wasn’t by pure happenstance this occurred.

“I was in college and I was torn between education and physical therapy,” she explained. “My adviser told me about an athletic training program that had at NOC in Tonkawa. I did some research and decided that was the perfect field for me because it included the medical and the education field.”

When she broke into the field, she said she remembers her first lesson being the ability to recognize the signs and symptoms of heat illness in athletes. Since 2007, Dierkson has worked for Dr. Todd Reilly in various capacities including casting and bracing, surgery scheduling and joint injections.

“It’s kind of fun to walk into the room with a big needle,” she laughed.

Dr. Reilly was excited about the opportunity her new training position will create.

“To some degree, she has been under-utilized as a certified trainer,” said Reilly. “She’s been a great asset to me and our orthopedic patients so it’s fabulous to get her to do something she enjoys doing and something that will be beneficial to the community.”

The fact she gets to return to Enid High and work with the current student trainers and do what she loves wasn’t lost on the affable Dierkson.

“I’m really excited to be back on the sidelines and back at my alma mater,” she said. “I have a great group of 11 student trainers that I will be able to work with and develop.

“We are trying to expand the program. It gives the girls a little wider grasp of what athletic trainers can do. People have the misconception that we just tape ankles and hand out water bottles and stand on the sidelines.

“There is so much more to our jobs.”

Somehow you just know she is up to the task. After all, Dierkson now is doing what she truly loves