The football players, cheerleaders, and coaches are all well known and visible, but what do you know about the sports medicine staff supporting your favorite football team?

In North Carolina, the law states that a Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) must be present at every football practice and game - home or away. At Green Hope High School in Cary, Eugene Everett serves as the school's ATC. Everett arrives at Green Hope by 7:30 every morning, teaches two blocks, then gets ready for the afternoon activities.

Although football is a big part of an ATC's life in the Fall, there are other sports to cover as well. For example, soccer, cross country, tennis, golf, and volleyball.

Luckily, Everett doesn't have to do it all by himself. Tony Horton, another ATC, serves as Everett's assistant when he is not working his Emergency Medical Services job in Durham County. Green Hope also has a staff of students who are assigned to various sports each season, and are expected to cover their team's practices and games.

So, what does a sports medicine staff have to do on gameday? Last Friday, I spent the day with the Green Hope Sports Medicine staff, and now I'm going to tell their story for them.

3:00 PM: School is dismissed at Green Hope, and athletes and Sports Medicine Student Assistants (SMSA's) report to the athletic wing.

3:09 PM: The first football players arrive in the Athletic Training Room (ATR). Most of these players are there to discuss injuries they suffered during the week, and to determine whether or not they will be cleared to play in the game that evening. Everett and his staff don't typically don't provide much treatment right after school because they want the treatment to last throughout the game. For instance, if they were to tape an ankle at 3:00, it would be lose and no good by 7:30 - kickoff time.

3:21 PM: The SMSA's determine where they want to go eat that night. The group goes out to dinner before the game with each other. On Friday, the group went to Beef O'Brady's in Cary.

4:35 PM: After eating dinner, the group arrives back to Green Hope to get ready for the game.

4:37 PM: The SMSA's go to change into the clothes they will wear at the game. Everett provides the SMSA's with Green Hope Sports Medicine polo's, and the color is based on how many years they have been in the program.

4:41 PM: Time to make Gatorade! Each game, the Green Hope Sports Medicine staff makes seven gallons of Gatorade to give to the football team at halftime. Any extra will be used in the second half. Gatorade is good for athletes because it replaces the electrolytes lost during activity.

4:45 PM: After tracking down the John Deere Gator, the SMSA's load all of their equipment up to take down to the stadium. Each game, the Sports Medicine staff takes a large trunk with first aid supplies in it, first aid kits, towels, several sleeves of cups, water bottles, Gatorade, cup racks, crutches, a backboard, and more.

4:51 PM: When they arrive at the stadium, the SMSA's check the 30-gallon water tanks to make sure they are filled and ready to use. The tanks are used to fill up cups and water bottles, and to fill the visitor's water coolers if needed. The only players allowed to use the bottles are the ones on the field. This is a precaution taken by the Sports Medicine staff to ensure germs and diseases aren't passed from one player to another on the sideline. These players have to use the cups.

5:00 PM: The football players arrive to the ATR to get treatment and to be taped. On practice days, athletes are required to do exercises before receiving treatment.

5:23 PM: Panther Creek arrives at Green Hope High School, and the Sports Medicine staff goes down to the stadium with the Gator to help the visiting Sports Medicine staff unload and get their supplies to the sideline.

5:55 PM: The remaining Sports Medicine staff members go down to the stadium.

6:00 PM: The Green Hope special teams unit walks down to the stadium to begin warming up. The Sports Medicine staff has to make sure water is available for the players. A short time later, the rest of the team enters the stadium.

6:50 PM: The Green Hope football team separates into groups to begin warming up for the game. One SMSA takes a rack of water bottles to each group for the players to use during breaks. This helps to make sure the players stay hydrated before and during the game.

7:20 PM: The SMSA's return to the sideline and begin preparing for kickoff. The SMSA's separate on the sideline to different positions to make sure they have all of their bases covered. For example, somebody has to stay at the table on the sideline to make sure water is constantly available for the players.

7:30 PM: Kickoff. Green Hope was playing Panther Creek on Friday.

Throughout the game, the Sports Medicine staff is busy. During timeouts and injuries, SMSA's have to take water on the field. During the game, SMSA's have to make sure water is available on the bench, and they have to treat injuries as they happen. If a player goes down on the field of play, Everett and Horton, along with assigned SMSA's go out on the field to determine the course of action.

When the game is over, all of the equipment has to be packed up and taken back to the ATR. Once the football team arrives and changes back into their street clothes, the staff gets ready to take care of any injuries that occurred during the game.

This is only a brief overview of what each and every Sports Medicine staff has to do each gameday. Next time you're at a high school football game, consider the effort that has to be put into the event to make sure it runs smoothly.