Yorkville School District Y115 Board considers plan to hire two athletic trainers

YORKVILLE – There are about 850 student athletes at Yorkville High School and Yorkville Academy, many of them playing on more than one of 24 sports teams.

On paper, School District Y115 has two professional athletic trainers contracted through a private firm to provide strength and conditioning programing, conduct physical testing and perform injury prevention and care services.

In fact, market pressures have meant that only one of those two trainers are currently being provided by the contractor and the school’s administrators are concerned that they could lose the other at any time.

YHS Principal David Travis and Associate Principal for Athletics, Activities and Facilities Luke Engelhardt presented the Yorkville School Board on May 22 with a plan for the district to hire two athletic trainers as district employees.

“We would rather control our destiny than have it controlled for us,” Travis told board members.

“We would rather control our destiny than have it controlled for us.”

—  YHS Principal David Travis

Engelhardt explained that the contract firm is planning to increase the cost it charges the district for each trainer from the current $35,000 to $60,000.

Travis and Engelhardt said the district could hire two trainers for about the same amount of money it would have to pay the private contractor under the planned increase.

A big worry now is a provision for breaking the contract with just 30-days notice.

“That 30-day out scares us,” Travis told the board. “That’s our biggest concern. Our kids suffer and our programs suffer.”

The high school maintains a well-equipped sports medicine and training room, where the trainers can perform procedures ranging from measuring a wrestler’s body fat to testing a football player for a concussion.

Board members reacted positively to the proposal and are expected to vote on the plan next month.