August 1, 2002
Contact: Robert Lowery (509-963-1487/fax 509-963-2301/e-mail: loweryr@cwu.edu)
ELLENSBURG, Wash. - As the San Francisco 49ers arrived in Osaka, Japan, this week for Sunday’s “American Bowl” with the Washington Redskins, Central Washington University was represented on the team’s flight. Not among the players, but as a member of the club’s training staff.
CWU senior David Stricklin, from Port Orchard, is one of just six athletic training interns selected to work with the 49ers’ during training camp this summer.
“I’m the youngest of the six,” Stricklin, 21, says. “Everyone else has either graduated or is going for a master’s (degree). One guy just accepted a job as an assistant athletic trainer at UW (University of Washington).”
A 1999 graduate of South Kitsap High School, Stricklin will graduate next June from CWU with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and a minor in athletic training. San Francisco was among four National Football League teams that expressed interest in having Stricklin join their summer training staffs, where it’s hands-on work.
“We’re absolutely fully involved,” he adds. “We tape, do rehab, treatments — pretty much everything I do at Central, I also do here. So far, it’s not as hard as I thought it would be but, as you get higher up the food chain, I’m sure it gets a little tougher.”
Instead of working with college student-athlete peers, Stricklin now focuses on multi-million dollar professionals, including running back Garrison Hearst.
“I work with him on a daily basis,” Stricklin points out. “I take care of his blisters, some of his shoe issues, and I do some soft tissue massage. It’s an honor because the veterans usually don’t come to any intern. There’s a range of personalities, like you would find on any team, but there are some really good guys down here and they’ve received us well.”
Even though he’s been involved with the CWU athletic department as a student athletic trainer for three years, Stricklin calls his learning curve with the 49ers “very steep.”
“I’ve been learning about how muscle strains can involve the nervous system and why you should check for that on an injury-by-injury basis,” he adds. “This is an area I haven’t covered before.”
A former prep football player and student trainer in high school, Stricklin came to CWU specifically to prepare for a career in athletic training.
“I fell in love with it and it came very easy for me,” he recalls of his high school training experience. “I want to end up at a Division 1 college. I like college players and the camaraderie, but I wouldn’t mind being in an NFL position for a couple of years.”
But, just like for the players, Stricklin is finding out it’s a competitive situation for the student interns, too.
“You have to improve constantly, so it’s like being a player,” he says. “The interns work week-to-week and we could be let go at any time. But, we’re a tight-knit group, we work as a team and we work well together. It’s pretty fun.”
When he returns to CWU for fall quarter, Stricklin will receive an NFL-sponsored student athletic trainer scholarship. It’s one of only six scholarships offered by the league, according to Ken Kladnik, CWU head athletic trainer.
“He is probably one of the most dedicated, hardworking student athletic trainers I’ve had the opportunity to supervise during my career,” Kladnik says.
