Ryan THE Trainer

Whether you play football, basketball, volleyball, or any other sport, you’ve most likely met our very own Ryan Lawhead, the athletic trainer.

Just like any other kid, Ryan played sports in high school and was a baseball phenom at Eaton.  Amid playing his sports, be it football or any other sport he played, he got a multitude of serious injuries.  It was during these injuries, that he realized he wanted to be an athletic trainer.

Ryan went to the University of Northern Colorado and got his degree in athletic training.  As a part of his training, Ryan helped UNC sports teams and used what he learned.

Right after graduating UNC, he came straight to Holy Family.  His first job as an athletic trainer was during the 2019-2020 school year.

“I started to focus on becoming a trainer my last year of high school after I had undergone many injuries.  Until the end of high school, though, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do.  I figured I wanted to do something related to teaching, coaching, and something with kids,” said Ryan, who can relate to our athletes after he pulled a muscle in his pelvis during his baseball playing days. “I had practice at UNC working as a trainer, learning how to be a trainer, and now I’m using what I’ve learned here at Holy Family.”

“I enjoy being a trainer at the high school level because you get to see and help all of the sports, there’s no specific sport that I have to focus on.  I get to watch all of my favorite sports and some sports that I don’t really understand, but being able to help with every sport makes training interesting since I’m not fixing the same injury every day.  Normally the main injury that comes with every sport are ankle sprains.  The worst injury I’ve seen before this year was an elbow dislocation, but including this year, the worst injury I’ve seen would be a femur fracture from football.”

Ryan is the one making sure our athletes are healthy to play their sports, so don’t be a stranger when you see him in the hallway, say hi!