BETHEL — Abbie Richardson has become Telstar’s first-ever athletic trainer.
Richardson recently graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from the University of New England.
After graduation she started searching for jobs in her field. She was scrolling through the UNE website, going page-to-page looking for job listings, before stumbling upon Telstar’s advertisement. Richardson said she called and within a few weeks, the job was hers.
Richardson started work in early December. Having her as part of the staff will be a significant asset for the sports program, according to Supt. Dave Murphy.
“The addition of this position will provide our student athletes with a heightened level of support during games as well as the opportunity to have appropriate follow up support with any injuries they might encounter during games and/or practices,” Murphy said. “In addition, the trainer will be in a position to assist our coaches in determining optimal conditioning and training activities for our students.”
Getting into athletic training was an easy decision for an avid sports fan like Richardson.
“I love sports, I think it’s so cool and I want them to succeed,” Richardson said.
As to what her job entails, Richardson said an easy way to spot an athletic trainer is to watch how any injury is handled in sports.
“So if you’re watching a football game and you see an athlete go down, the people in the khaki pants, that’s an athletic trainer,” she said with a laugh.
Richardson will help athletes treat acute injuries and rehabilitate. However, her job goes beyond just helping with injuries. Emotional support is provided to the athletes also, so she does “the whole nine yards,” as she put it.
Richardson, who grew up in Skowhegan and went to college in Biddeford, is now in a town with a population barely over 2,500. It’s a third of the size of Skowhegan and a tenth of the size of Biddeford. But for her, the transition has been smooth.
Richardson considers her hometown fairly small and worked in an internship at Cape Elizabeth, which she said was not a big school either.
Another area of interest for Richardson is traveling. She has visited seven countries. Her favorite was Spain.
swheeler@bethelcitizen.com
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