You don't notice them until disaster strikes. Most of their work is performed pre- or post-game and on the sidelines, helping McMaster's student-athletes stay loose, hydrated and ready for anything. When a player goes down with injury, however, student-therapists spring into action, splinting limbs, dressing wounds and stretching out cramped muscles.

“It's a lot of responsibility, but our teams are ready for just about anything,” said Nicole Petis, an undergraduate kinesiology student and field supervisor with the program that sees approximately 50 students work as athletic therapists for the David Braley Sport Medicine & Rehabilitation Clinic each year. “We do everything from assisting players during games to helping them through physiotherapy when they've sustained a major injury.”

The athletic therapists, many of whom are in kinesiology, work in teams of varying sizes, depending on the sport being played (football and rugby require more assistance than other sports), and are also responsible for working two hours per week in the clinic. The ability to experience work in both the field and a clinic setting is what attracts many students to the program, says Petis.

“It really gives students a chance to see where their skills fit and what they like best before entering the workforce.”

The student-therapists, however, aren't the only beneficiaries of the clinic's program. If Ian Finlay's experience is any indication, the therapists play an important role in the success of McMaster's sports teams. Finlay, a rower, has been assisted more than once by the students and says that they're an integral part of any team.

“It's really great having them around,” said Finlay. “Instead of having to drop out of races with injury, we can usually get some help from the athletic therapists on-site, which means we can get back on the water and not be stuck watching competitions from shore.”

Personal anecdotes aside, there are stats to back up the good work that the students do: the “return to play” rate at McMaster is much higher than elsewhere, in part because of the work of the student-therapists.

With the Ontario University Athletics sports season now in full swing, the therapists are out in force, helping to keep McMaster's athletes in game shape while gaining invaluable knowledge and experience.