My Final Year as a Student Athletic Trainer

Story and photo by De’Asya Heatley-Ford.

My name is De’Asya Heatley-Ford and I have been a football manager for Friendship Collegiate’s football team since my sophomore year. I started because my brother, who at the time was a junior, played for the team, meaning I had to stay after school with him. During the middle of the 2021 football season, I began to grow a strong passion for helping the players and athletic trainers and became an aide. I now want to major in kinesiology and physical therapy once I get to college. 

Working as aids, the other managers and I make sure that the football players have everything they need for practice and games. For my final season, I was the leader and captain of the manager crew, and made sure everything was up to par for games. If certain players needed assistance, and the trainer wasn’t there, we helped them and made sure that they had everything they needed. Their necessities could include things like ice bags being wrapped or getting taped up. For games and practice, we set up the field by filling the big coolers, that we call “turtles” with bottles, and filling the coolers with ice and water. 

One of my fondest memories from the 2023 season was a trip to California to play a team called St. John Bosco. This was our first time flying out of state to play another team. Another memory that stands out from this season was senior day. It felt great to be acknowledged and praised for the hard work and dedication we all put in.

My senior year and the experiences that have come with it, have been very memorable. My last year with the team has taught me a lot, and I’ve built new bonds, traveled to new places and have learned a lot of different techniques to be an athletic trainer.

De’Asya Heatley-Ford is a senior at Friendship Collegiate Academy.