For the past four years, senior athletic trainer Morgan Sanaghan has been working the sidelines during football season to aid injured Grenadiers. In a matter of seconds, she’s at their side in need of help. 

Sanaghan’s program is an after-school club for students who are interested in sports medicine. This year, however, she is employed through the district for an apprenticeship in athletic training. She first got involved her freshman year by coincidence when a guest speaker spoke to her intro to health class.

“After the end of the presentation, I thought, ‘Oh, this is what I want to do every day,’  like, ‘that just checked all my boxes,’” Sanaghan said. 

Athletic training at Elk Grove allows for students to get hands-on experience in sports medicine and athletic training. One of Sanaghan’s favorite seasons is football season, where she is able to be on the field and working consistently.

Elk Grove football season consists of pure chaos, as Sanaghan puts it.

“On Friday, the day starts right as that bell rings,” Sanaghan said. “Football players are absolute chaos.”

On a typical October home game, student athletic trainers tape kids, get them to where they can play in the game, and rehabilitate the athletes to the maximum potential. If it’s away, the bus is packed and the team rushes to their away game. 

Athletic trainers are the ones that provide immediate care for athletes who may have been injured from or while playing. During EG football season, for example, the athletic training team helps the Grens by providing them with water jugs, injury wraps and other materials.

Because of Sanaghan’s thorough experience, it’s almost as if she is already a professional athletic trainer.

“I love the people I work with,” Sanaghan said. “I haven’t met a person I didn’t like.”

Sanaghan does everything a regular athletic trainer does, except for documentation. She creates rehabilitation programs for kids, comes up with workouts, and emails athletes.

Damiano Manzella, one of Sanaghan’s patients, gets treated in the training room.

“It’s a hard job,” Manzella said about Sanaghan’s responsibilities. 

Through the D214 Healthcare Pathway, Sanaghan earned her CNA certification during her junior year, and she now spends her eighth period in the athletic training room.

Sanaghan’s passion is what made her decide to pursue a degree in kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Aside from athletic training, Sanaghan works at a bakery and also takes dance classes. 

“Every day here is different — it’s amazing,” Sanaghan said.