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The Callaway sports medicine team, led by Callaway High athletic trainer Rob Dicks, is top-class. Now, they have proof as the school was officially awarded the Safe Sports School Award last Friday by the National Athletic Trainer Association. 

“I just feel like, if you’re doing everything you can to keep your students safe, it’s great notoriety to show people that don’t know what we do. And I think it, for me, is more of a question piece. People will see that banner, and then they’ll want to know, well, how did you guys get that? Like, I’m hoping that, you know, folks in the community see that and it sparks them to ask us questions,” Dicks said.

• According to the National Athletic Trainer Association, to achieve this award a school must: “Create a positive athletic health care administrative system
• Provide or coordinate per-participation physical examinations
• Promote safe and appropriate practice and competition facilities
• Plan for selection, fit function and proper maintenance of athletic equipment
• Provide a permanent, appropriately equipped area to evaluate and treat injured athletes
• Develop injury and illness prevention strategies, including protocols for environmental conditions
• Provide or facilitate injury intervention
• Create and rehearse venue-specific emergency action plans
• Provide or facilitate psycho-social consultation and nutritional counseling/education
• Be sure athletes and parents are educated of the potential benefits and risks in sports as well as their responsibilities.”

Dicks has been on a mission to improve Callaway’s sports medicine since taking over in the fall of 2022 and he feels like he has done that. 

“My first year, when I got here, I pretty much created the EAP (Emergency Action Plan), I made sure of certain things that I felt like we needed at the school and in the community,” Dicks said.

The Cavaliers had already met the majority of requirements before Dicks was even informed of the 

“I made sure of certain things that I felt like we needed at the school and in the community. Anyways, before I even applied for the Safe School Award. And then once I started looking into the Safe School award, I noticed all the things that needed to be done, I had already done more so, so, you know, I had already created the sports medicine team. I created the EAPs and I sent those out. So the only other couple things that I had to do was just make sure that the athletes and parents were educated on the benefits.”

There is a hope that this will further break down stigmas around athletic training and its role at schools. The coaches and staff inside the halls of Callaway know Dicks expertise and value, but parents often don’t know the training and experience that Dicks possesses.

Dicks is an army of one in many ways, but does have some helping hands around. Dicks usually has around four helpers each semester and had a work-based learning student, Saralynn Pelt, last year and hopes to have another one next semester.

“I started off with seven or eight and finished up this fall with four student athletic trainer aides and I think four is a good number,” Dicks said. 

The care students get from Dicks and his aides is second to none and now they have the banner hanging up to prove it.