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Murphy – The Cherokee County Board of Education entered into an agreement with Erlanger Health System on Thursday to provide licensed athletic trainers to Murphy and Andrews high schools for the 2023-24 year.
The agreement doesn’t mean trainers are automatically hired at both schools, but the hope is this will make it much easier to bring one on and fill the current void at Andrews. Under the agreement, the county will pay Erlanger for the trainers, as they will be employed by the hospital but provide a service to the county as independent contractors.
The county approved funding for licensed athletic trainers at Murphy and Andrews in May through the school sales tax fund, and approved the hiring of Coulter Clement at Andrews and Bob Grimes at Murphy on June 29. Both trainers were employed at their respective school last year through a partnership with PT Solutions and Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva. Harris alerted the county on May 4 that it would be ending the contract with Cherokee County Schools.
The funding and hiring for both positions appeared to temporarily solve the problem, though it became an issue again when Clement left for a position as an associate athletic trainer for the Western Carolina University football team on
Aug. 1. Clement told the Cherokee Scout he left because of concerns about the lack of operating protocols set by the county, which dictate what trainers are supposed to do in certain situations and need to be signed off on by a physician. That is now covered under the contract with Erlanger.
Previously, the lack of operating protocols meant that Grimes, a certified trainer, could not do the job to his full capabilities. Though he still would have to become an Erlanger employee, hospitals in this area are willing to work with existing athletic trainers at a school due to the challenge of finding people qualified for the position in rural areas like Cherokee County.
The N.C. High School Athletic Association requires that a licensed athletic trainer or first responder are required to be at home and away football games as well as practices were protective equipment like shoulder pads and helmets are worn, and wrestling competitions. The agreement between the county and Erlanger says trainers will also be at home games for softball, volleyball, basketball, baseball, soccer, and track and field home games.
In Andrews, parents Tim Wood and Sarah Tatham are acting as first-responders at football practices after taking the necessary certification. However, they are mainly there to provide emergency care and are not qualified to treat specific injuries.