Quilling concerned that there's no trainer

Carson High football coach Shane Quilling and his staff have raised a concern that they've headed into the season without a trainer.

Quilling said while he and his coaching staff have had basic first aid training, but they aren't as well equipped to give the necessary treatment for injuries that a trainer provides. He said "it's a proven fact" that a trainer makes a difference when providing for the care of players.

Misty Harris was the trainer for Carson last year, but is pursuing her master's and hasn't been replaced.

Quilling said in his 12 years of coaching in Montana, Texas, Utah and Colorado, only once - in a small community in Montana - has he served at a school that didn't have a trainer.

In the wake of the recent deaths of three football players - a 13-year-old, 14-year-old and a 15-year-old - Quilling said the district needs to look at the issue. "It's just a liability thing," he said. "It's just kind of scary."

He also said the district needs to look at whatever "rainy day funds" it has to possibly provide a trainer. "It's raining," he said. "It's not just raining, it's pouring."

Quilling said all of the Reno high schools have a trainer, with the exception of two, and "they're working on it."

He said Washoe County schools are paying $11,000 for a trainer. Quilling also said he believes a trainer could be provided for $7,000 to $8,000, which isn't much when the school district could be "sued for millions of dollars. You're not looking at a lot of money."

Even for tasks such as taping players, Quilling said it's better if a trainer takes care of those duties. "I had one taping class," he said.

Quilling told parents about the situation during a meeting on Wednesday.

"As a parent, I would be real concerned," he said. "I thought they had a right to know."

Quilling said he and his coaching staff plan to present a letter to the district expressing the need for a trainer.

"This is a problem and we don't agree with it," Quilling said. "It doesn't seem right to me."

The entire athletic department, not just the football team, needs a trainer, Quilling said.

"We're a small college," he said. "We've got 100s and 100s of kinds involved in athletics."

Quilling said he's talked to Harris about serving as a trainer on the sidelines during home games. Quilling said Carson also hasn't had a doctor on the sideline during its games in the past and that he hopes to have a trainer and doctor on the sideline for this season's contests.

"Everywhere I've been they've always had a doctor on the sideline," he said. "I've been working on that."

But it's at practice where a trainer is most needed, Quilling said. "Most kids get hurt in practice, not in the games," Quilling said. "It's just a concern. It needs to be taken care of."

Quilling said there are other options such as community-oriented efforts for providing a trainer.

"There's a lot of ways to do it where the district doesn't have to pay the whole thing," he said.