By Steve Williams
The profession of a high school athletic trainer could involve life or death, since his or her arrival could be the first on the scene.
On the other hand, it’s much more likely to be a career filled with lifelong friendships and a lot of thanks and respect from those students who received his or her help when injuries occurred.
Our spotlight today is on 52-year-old Jayson Berlin, who is employed by the Knoxville Orthopedic Clinic and is Knox County Schools’ longest-running AT. He’s now in his 18th school year. He chose Austin-East High to work at out of four or five other Knox County schools.
His workday starts around 2:30 at A-E, depending on the sport.
In pre-COVID, the athletic trainers would begin their workday at the KOC office. “We either put on braces or did home exercise programs,” said Berlin. “It was time we had to spend outside of the school at KOC. We do not go to the office anymore. We come straight to the school.”
The end of his workday depends on the sport. After the girls’ and boys’ basketball games, he’s usually through at 9 o’clock.
“For Friday night football, we could work until 10 or 11 o’clock,” said Berlin. “It all depends on the season, the sport, the location you’re at.”
Jayson never knows what the day will have in store for him.
“Never, and that’s the thing I like about it,” he said. “It’s something different every day. I mean, good, bad and ugly. It’s something different every day, and that’s why I truly enjoy it.
“I don’t think I could do a job that’s repetitive and the same thing over and over like an assembly line.”
The quieter the better, too, in Berlin’s work days.
“Usually if it’s a hectic day, something drastic has happened,” he said. “And I say this to the kids all the time: I love my job, and I really hate working, because when I’m working, somebody is really hurt.”
Berlin went to Oak Ridge High School and played various sports, including football and wrestling. He attended East Tennessee State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in athletic training in 1997.
Before he came to Knox County in 2007, he had worked in his field in Greene and Cocke counties for seven years and was the first athletic trainer at Cocke County High.
Berlin works with all of the sports at Austin-East. He said football or basketball keeps him the busiest.
His worst and busiest day as an athletic trainer at A-E?
“I would say the busiest was probably a late night traveling to Chattanooga for a football game,” said Jayson.
“One of the terrible ones was an injury coming out of Gatlinburg-Pittman on a football Friday night about five or six years ago, and we had a young man hurt. They had to load him into an ambulance. We are trying to play a game. The ambulance took a while to get to UT, so I’d say that was probably stressful because it was a fairly bad injury.”
So Berlin said he’s been blessed as far as catastrophic injuries or anything like that.
“Yes, I was here the day the shooting happened,” he said. “Was that a stressful day? Without a doubt. Then the boy got killed here at school. I mean, I’ve lost a lot of kids from my time here … I can’t count, but I’ve been to a few funerals.
“I’m here for the community, the kids – athlete or not – I mean, I’ve dealt with teachers, faculty, parents. Again, it’s not just athletes. If somebody is hurt; even on the other team, I’m here for them. And I think a lot of people know that.”
One incident like that occurred just last Wednesday. Berlin was working the Carter at Austin-East boys basketball game, and a Carter cheerleader was hurt as she fell on the floor during a timeout.
The Carter athletic trainer had reported earlier that he wasn’t feeling well and would not be at the game, so Berlin was aware of it and checked on the girl the same way he would have with one of his own student-athletes.
Earlier that night, Berlin wrapped one of his players’ ankles and also had to attend to another with a pretty bad bloody nose.
“If a fan at the game has a problem, we help them too,” pointed out Berlin.
“For an athlete or any kid, the hardest part is the injury.
“My biggest reward is to see kids come back from an injury.
“I’ve loved this job. It’s been a blessing. The community’s great. I wish more of the positive would be seen outwardly.”
