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Show ft M I Wt I i fa t 8 JLW, Profile: Rick Hackford Head Athletic Trainer Gary Gonzalez Staff Writer Gary GonzalezThe Forum hard to feel invincible, but Head Athletic Its Rick Hackford has made most Griffin feel pretty close. Hackford, who has taking care of Westminsters athletes for six upwards of years, is one of the athletic programs most valuable assets. As the man behind the scenes taking care of our student athletes Hackford has been a driving force for the Griffins over the last few years.He has brought over sixteen years of high-lev- el athletic training experience to our school and the proof is in the work he does. FROM BUSINESS-MA- N TO MEDICINE-MA- -- - "' "N r i t j . . N Many people may be surprised to learn that Hackford has just about as much formal education as many of the professors at Westminster. He began his professional career just a few credits short of a bachelors degree in Secondary Education to pursue a lucrative career in the business world. Over the next ten years Hackford worked in various capacities for different companies in both managerial and marketing positions. At one point I was managing multi-millidollar accounts and traveling all over the world, said Hackford with a pensive look in his eye. Now sitting in a small hotel room of a Best Western in Great Falls Montana he continued I was getting paid to travel to places like Japan, Australia, and New Zealand every weekend." Although this may sound like the good life to some people, Hackford was living someone elses dream. Although he was good at it, business bored him and he started looking for other ways to fulfill his desire to make a difference. Toward the end of his time in the business world Hackford started volunteering his time to work with High School students as an athletic trainer. In a few short years his position as a volunteer developed into an internship where he was taking care of the football, baseball, wrestling, and track teams on top of his full time job. In 2000 Hackford made what he considers the best decision of his life; he quit work and went back to school. In only three years Hackford got a Bachelors of Science in physical education with an emphasis on athletic training. It only took three more years before he graduated from Utah State University with a Masters in the WORKING AT WESTMINSTER Fast forward to 2010 and Hackford is now the Head Athletic Trainer at Westminster. The short way of describing this job is that he is responsible for keeping our athletes fit and injury free year round. However, that job description doesnt do justice to how much work he really does. First of all he holds the responsibility of taking care of all the administrative responsibilities of the training program. This includes scheduling for all the teams, as well as organizing all the staff, and work-studievents. On top of this he has all the responsibilities of a normal trainer such as working on prevention, rehab, pre and post game care, and first aid. In reality, the amount of work should be split among a team, but Hackford has found a way to not only do it all, but to do it all well. Part of this has to do with his dedication to the program. Between the four teams he works with directly (127 student athletes) and his administrative duties, Hackford is at school for around 12 hours a day, five to seven days a week. Aside from always being on campus to work with the athletes he also travels with teams to make sure they are taken care of on the road. This season alone he has spent four of his weekends on the road with the mens Soccer team, and will spend ten more with the mens I I - T "v , i Hackford walks Nikolai Dyiezyc, mens soccer, through insurance paperwork. ) S P- d- on same field. j XI t n es X""' i i "1 t I . : ' i j c' Vj ' 1 i Me. ' IHVJo 801-- 5 iv. Wrtwii ' t - -t ' ' Mevte? OU J 'f of hh ry.L 4 fa? . The sign on the door of the training room give a good idea of how well Hackford knows and likes his athletes. Lacrosse team in the spring. Nothing like a weekend get away to Kansas on a bus with 25 males student athletes who have the collective maturity of a 15 year old with ADD. WESTMINSTER'S SECRET WEAPON Hackford is the Westminster athletic programs ace in the hole. On top of the massive amounts of time he puts in, he is also good at what he does. With almost seventeen years of hands on experience as a trainer Hackford is an expert at everything from taping, to diagnostics, to first aid. He has helped countless Griffin athletes recover from just about any injury imaginable. Sophomore Soccer player Gabriel Gonzalez has been dealing with on going Patella Tendonitis in his right knee through out his playing career. Ive always had trouble with my knee but I have been able to enjoy my two season at Westminster thanks to Rick Hack-fortender love and care. Not only does he help the athletes hands on, but over the years he has built a huge network of external resources for athletes. As a result of this the student athletes get the benefit of top-notcare from the best specialists in the valley. For example, if a student breaks a bone Hackford makes one call and they can get a same day appointment at the best orthopedic specialist in the city (the same place that Jazz and Real Salt Lake athletes go). At a small, NALA school, where he is understaffed and has only a fraction of the recourses of a NCAA program, Hackford has thrived. In recognition for his skills as a trainer he has been asked to help organizations such as Real Salt Lake, the Utah Blaze, and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team. We are very lucky to have Rick as a trainer, he takes care of us like we are his kids, said sophomore athletic Ryan Holmes as he finished taping training work-stud-y ds ch the ankle of a teammate. The care that he gives us is really top shelf. I cant think of anyone else who I would rather have as our trainer. Hackford has passed up opportunitys to work for the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays of Major League Baseball as well as NCAA Division I powerhouse Long Beach State University to stay with Westminster. In his own words I really enjoy the high caliber of athletes we have here. They are much more fun to work with. THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND With all the pomp and circumstance aside, one thing sets Hackford apart as a special part of the athletic community. He is more than just a trainer to the athletes at our school; he is a friend and a mentor. The training room is a place where athletes come just to hang out in between classes. Hackford, who is on a first name basis with just about all of the 260 athletes, always has an open door and jokes to share. He knows his students well and talks with them about school, sports, and everyday life. Over the time that was spent in the training room to conduct this interview students came in just to say hi and hang out for treatment. Not only does he deal with physical injuries, but he also helps athletes deal with the physiological stress of playing at a high level.. As such he has fallen into a father figure role for his teams. If anyone has a problem the first person they go to is Hackford. According to sophomore soccer player and athletic Kaden Amselmo, I go to Rick for training work-stud- y advice all the time. He helps me with everything; a job, life lessons, even my girl problems. S n i t |