Joining a completely new faculty and student body is a difficult task in itself, but adjusting to the fast-paced schedule of high school sporting events before the school year even begins presents a challenge. Meeting the coaches, attending as many athletic events as possible, and providing athletic training to injured players are just a few of an Athletic Trainer’s wide variety of responsibilities.
With the departure of previous Athletic Trainer Mike Belanger, who worked with Walpole athletes for 11 years, Walpole High hired Ms. Antigone Matsakis as the new trainer for the 2014-2015 school year.
Originally from Glenview, Illinois – a small town near Chicago – Dr. Matsakis attended Glenbrook South High School. It was during these four years that she first became interested in athletic training and physical therapy. Her experiences working with a strength and conditioning coach throughout her time playing high school basketball initiated her passion for learning about body movement.
“My strength and conditioning coach transformed the way I moved, which improved my strength and made me a better athlete,” Dr. Matsakis said. “I was so impressed with the body and the fact that you can improve it and change its capacity, so I wanted to learn more about it.”
Following high school, she further pursued her interest in physical therapy during college. Ms. Matsakis attended Boston University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training and her doctorate degree in Physical Therapy. Her current position at Walpole High is her first full-paying job after college, but she previously held per diem athletic training jobs in Boston.
Given the many tasks that she must handle, Dr. Matsakis endured multiple difficulties during her transition into the school. “Getting used to the schedule, communicating between athletes, parents, coaches, nurse and the team physician, and learning people’s names while managing communications was challenging,” she said.
Otherwise, her entrance into the school was greeted with appreciation from students, coaches, and parents.
Dr. Matsakis’ passion for helping student athletes facilitated her entrance to Walpole High, and she enjoys the school’s emphasis on physical therapy for athletes – an asset not found at every high school. She said, “I like the support that the school gives for athletic training. My favorite part is being there in those critical moments.”
At the school, Dr. Matsakis holds a multitude of responsibilities; for example, responding to emergencies both on the field and within the school, managing communications, providing rehab for injured players, and preventing future injuries amongst student athletes. So far, she has already worked to reduce the amount of injuries through regenerative stretching and core work with Walpole High School’s football team.
More recently, Dr. Matsakis organized a “Yoga for Athletes” class, in which students could participate in an hour-long yoga session for a one dollar fee. She believes that with the fast growth of young athletes’ bodies, yoga offers flexibility and coordination that minimizes injury risk.
“I think that yoga is really powerful for the body and the mind,” Dr. Matsakis said. “It helps you move within your own body, which prevents injuries and makes you a better athlete. It is a really easy thing that can help anyone.”
The main reasons behind her avid interest in physical therapy are her abilities to be a part of the change in adolescents’ lives and to assist people in recovering and returning to their activities. “In both athletic training and physical therapy, I like having a powerful influence in someone’s life and making them recover to do what they love to do,” Dr. Matsakis said.
Her love toward athletic training and physical therapy has also incited her desire to improve Walpole High’s program. Dr. Matsakis hopes to make the school’s system of documentation more efficient by transferring to an electronic system as opposed to the current handwritten one.
“I want to improve the system by going on to electronic records versus paper and improving the organization and efficiency of the communications and documentations,” she said. Additionally, she hopes to bring in a few speakers to inform student athletes about the importance of athletic training.
Dr. Matsakis’ enthusiasm toward athletic training and her desire to improve the school’s documentation system characterize her passionate personality. Despite the few challenges of adjusting to an entirely new schedule and school, Dr. Matsakis’ upbeat and youthful personality promises a positive future for Walpole’s athletic training program.
