By JOSEPH DOMINGUEZ/Contributor
Since becoming the head athletic trainer at UT Tyler, Andrew Cage has worked to enhance the level of care provided to student athletes.
Cage’s duties include injury prevention strategies and rehabilitating injured athletes. He creates individualized plans for every athlete under his care. Meanwhile, he also prioritizes the student’s mental and emotional health.
Cage did not always plan to be a trainer.
“I got into athletic training kind of by accident in some ways because originally I was planning to go into the medical field to be a physician,” he said. “But as I started to think through it, I thought about the years you go through school for one thing.”
He realized that being an athletic trainer would be a good blend for his interests in both medicine and sports.
He said he earned his master’s and doctorate degrees to teach and inspire others who want to become a head athletic trainer. He collaborates with colleagues and provides hands-on learning opportunities.
When an athlete is injured, Cage and his trainers act quickly to address the problem and create a treatment plan to reduce the athlete’s recovery time and chance of the injury recurring.
“I see a lot of injuries that are caused from inflammation which forms discomfort which leads athletes not to perform how they want to,” Cage said.
To reduce inflammation, Cage often puts the athlete on a treatment plan that includes ice baths, cupping and numerous stretching exercises.
“I feel like Dr. Cage helps me get back into action as soon as he can,” Baseball Player Brock Bearden said. “He doesn’t sugar coat it. He gets straight to it and starts treatment as soon as he can.”
Baseball Player Cade Conway is receiving ongoing treatment for a rib injury.
“I pulled two ribs out of place on a swing that I take every day, and with one swing I am out for the rest of the fall games,” Conway said.
With his ribs put back into place, Conway began working with trainers to treat the muscles that were wrongly stretched around the ribs.
Spencer Simpson, another player, has had trouble with his shoulder popping out of place when diving for a ball.
“Having a torn labrum causes muscles in my shoulder to become very weak and inflammation builds up making it hard to rotate and use daily,” Simpson said.
Cage has Simpson on treatments to increase blood flow to the shoulder to reduce inflammation and soreness.
“Andrew has helped me a lot staying on the field due to so many injuries,” Simpson said.
Cage wants to help athletes be the best they can be.
Being a trainer “gives you the chance to really help them on not just the medical side but the sports performance side of things too,” he said. “You get the chance to really help maximize their potential and maximize what they are able to do on and off the field.”
Cage enjoys getting to know and mentor athletes.
“Seeing people every day for treatments gives a chance to talk a lot about life and a lot of talks about sports and everything in between,” he said. “So, you get a chance to not only help that person from a health standpoint but in some cases, you build up that relationship where you turn into a mentor for that person and that makes it really rewarding.”
IN HIS OWN WORDS: Andew Cage talks about his career as an athletic trainer.
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