Hillsdale hires new athletic training staff

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The end of summer brought with it more than the imminent arrival of students. It also heralded the appearance of recently hired assistant athletic trainers.

Julia Hassell and Peter Benjamin joined this Charger family this July. Hassell, recently graduated from Mississippi State, and Benjamin, a graduate from Illinois State, have both worked with a plethora of sports. Both trainers look forward to sharing their knowledge and skills with the Charger athletes and coaches.

Hassell brings a proficiency in Functional Movement Screen (FMS), a series that allows trainers to assess athletes’ mobility and locate potential stability and mobility issues before they become problems. She plans to work with the Hillsdale coaching staff, particularly the tennis coach, to implement usage of FMS to prevent injuries before they happen.

“I’m a big fan of a lot of manual therapy. I think that helps athletes a lot,” Hassell said. “I am big into prevention.”

Benjamin possesses a multitude of abilities in his trainer repertoire. A certified EMT, strength and conditioning coach, and an advocate of muscle manipulation, Benjamin’s skills are quite portable, allowing him to keep athletes playing safely on the road with ease.

“I don’t need a lot of tools,” Benjamin said. “You can do different techniques that will help [muscles] to realign themselves.”

With their ability to keep Charger athletes playing at their peak, Hassell and Benjamin’s commitment to the Hillsdale core values may seem just an added bonus, but that is not the case. According to head athletic trainer Lynne Neukom, the hiring process was highly extensive and required the applicants to meet Hillsdale’s lofty standards.

“For us it was extremely important to acquire someone who had worked collegiate,” Neukom said. “Collegiate football is a definite must. Division experience was important.”

Benjamin and Hassell found that along with experience and education, a commitment to the college’s mission statement was essential.

“[The mission] does play a huge role,” Neukom said. “It’s imperative because in order to fit in here you have to believe and you have to live what the vision and mission statement are.”

After a rigorous hiring process, the athletic department appears to have picked the best people for Charger athletes. Both Hassell and Benjamin understand the depth of the mission and the need to transfer those aspirations to the athletic department.

“It’s not too difficult,” Benjamin said about applying the mission to his daily work. “We try to make sure we’re looking out for the best for the athletes. We don’t just treat the athlete as a basketball player. We treat them as a person.”

Hassell added, “It’s an expectation; it’s not just something that’s nice. I feel like it’s expected of me to get better and push others to do the same.”