Football Clinic

08.24.11 (LAS CRUCES) -- Athletic trainers are the back bone of every sporting team and they're also the key to a successful season.

Isaac Ramirez has played football practically his whole life.

"It's a big part of my life," he said.

And he can't imagine doing anything else.

"It's a lot of work, you know you got to wake up every morning and you got to ready to play. It's really a commitment you have to make to yourself, especially football," he said.

As part of the Mayfield High School football team, Ramierez spends a lot of time on the field and when a play goes wrong and he's left injured he visits the team's primary care provider.

"We're the first line of defense for those athletes," said Timothy Acklin or 'Doc' as he's known around the school. Acklin is Mayfield's athletic trainer, a sports medicine professional providing emergency care to all players.

"Athletics is in inheriting risky as it is, people are going to be running into other things and other people. There are all objectives that we are dealing with," said Acklin.

So, Acklin helps athletes build their strength, coordination and balance to help reduce the risk of injury and trauma.

"I got a small well kind of a big scrap, just cleaning it up now. It's pretty much healed now I just have to keep getting it covered up now so it doesn't open up again for any infections," explains Mayfield High School football player Juan Carlos Badillo.

Badillo will visit Mayfield's sports medicine office a couple of times during the season. It's a clinic-like atmosphere giving players top-notch service.

"We have to accommodate to their ability and if those athletes start to become sore or start to become tire we help them make sure they have proper time of rest, proper time of recover, plenty of hydration and making sure they have the information on nutrition on what to eat correctly," he said.

Reported by Carlos Correa.

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