Brophy trainer closely monitoring FB team's 3-game stretch

August 23, 2012 by Jose Garcia, AZPreps365


 

A zero on Chris White’s scoreboard is a blessing.

White would rather see Phoenix Brophy’s football team light up scoreboards like it did during Wednesday night’s victory instead of seeing players on the athletic trainer’s table. The amount of Brophy players visiting White’s table on Wednesday: 0.

White, one of the better athletic trainers in the state, is closely monitoring Brophy’s football team as it continues its difficult trek of playing three games in 10 days, a likely first-time scenario for an Arizona football program. Brophy walked away injury free after Wednesday’s 37-14 win over Glendale Mountain Ridge, but it takes a body about 2-3 days to fully recover after a game, White said.

It just so happens that on the third day of its current recovery period Brophy will face arguably the No. 1 team Southern California, Rancho Santa Margarita. But White and his three-team crew will do all it can to help Brophy give a maximum effort Saturday night at Phoenix College.

The recovery phase for Brophy began as soon as it returned to its campus Wednesday night. There’s a temperature control plunge pool at Brophy that can fit 12 players.

Players took a plunge into 53-degree pool to help relieve soreness and inflammation. On Thursday morning, the players will head to another pool to swim and help the elasticity of muscles return, White said.

The assessments and treatments of players will continue at lunchtime.

“I’m not overly concerned from a medical standpoint (about playing three games in 10 days),” White said. “We train very, very hard. Our athletes are some of the best trained football players in the state. We train at a very high level. (Defensive coordinator) Gary Galante, our strength and conditioning guy, does a great job of getting our guys physically prepared.”

From a physical standpoint, White isn’t concerned about Brophy’s 3-game task.

But he is worried that a player who might be currently injured won’t say he's injured because he wants to play in Saturday’s nationally televised game. White also will keep an eye on Brophy’s two-way players.

He wants to make sure the two-way players don’t overexert themselves before Saturday’s game. Cramping also might be an issue for players such as elite receiver Devon Allen, who is build for speed and not endurance.

Fatigue sets in more rapidly in players, like Allen, with fast twitch muscle fibers, White said. Staying properly hydrated and eating well also will be key this week for Allen and Brophy, said White, who is in his 27th year with Brophy and is a former president of the Arizona Athletic Trainers Association.

Don’t expect Brophy to go all out during its Thursday and Friday practices.

“It’s a more mental preparation,” said Moolander about his team’s approach during Thursday and Friday’s practices and Saturday morning’s walk through.

Brophy’s key starters weren’t taken out on Wednesday until about six minutes remained in the fourth quarter.

“It’s a mental approach that we need to take, that we can turn around and play great football,” said Moolander about fatigue concerns heading into Saturday.