By Joao Vitor Bonanoni/ Staff Writer

The Athletic Training Department has new professionals and upgrades in the facilities for this academic year. Dave Crawley, Dillon Davis and Jordyn Vrba joined the team, formed by Joshua Laird, Richelle Perkin and Vince Fedorowich.

“It is always nice when you have new people in that have a different type of energy or bring a different concept of what they feel athletic training should be like,” said Fedorowich, MVC’s Head Athletic Trainer. 

Jordyn Vrba, Assistant Athletic Trainer, is going through her first year as a certified AT. Vrba works directly with the Softball, Dance, Rodeo, and Men’s and Women’s Volleyball teams. 

Vrba’s past experiences as an athlete were the motivation for her to follow the athletic trainer career.

“My own injuries I encountered during my high school and college years of playing led me to this profession,“ Vrba said. 

Vrba is from Dixon, Missouri, and attended Missouri State University, where she completed her undergraduate in exercise and movement science and a master’s in athletic training. 

For Vrba, the most unique and exciting thing about being an Athletic Trainer is related to the unpredictability of the job. 

“No day is ever the same as the ones before it,” Vrba said. 

Dillon Davis, Assistant Athletic Trainer, has been working as an AT for 3 years. Davis works directly with the Football, Women’s Lacrosse, Rodeo, Bowling, E-Sports, Men’s, and Women’s Wrestling teams. 

“So far, I have been nothing but excited about working at Valley, and working mainly with football has been a great experience,” Davis said.  

Davis is from Plato, Missouri, and Worland, Wyoming. He attended Southwest Baptist University for his undergraduate studies and got his Master’s at Missouri State University. 

“My goal is to make my athletes better people, not just better athletes,” Davis said. 

For Davis, the most unique and exciting thing about being an Athletic Trainer is related to the diversity present on the Missouri Valley campus. 

“Meeting people from all over the world and learning new things about their culture and language,” Davis said. 

Dave Crawley, Rehab Specialist, is a retired athletic trainer with a lot of experience in the area. 

Crawley is from Burbank, California. He first attended Los Angeles Valley College and transferred to the University of Southern California, where he became an athletic trainer in 1973. 

Crawley said that one of the most special things about the athletic trainer career is the opportunity to help athletes overcome injuries and return to their games. 

“Taking somebody that is hurt and putting them back out into the world at a competitive level,” Crawley said. “It’s nice to see people who were hurt being able to process that through so they can get back to doing what they like to do.”

Crawley said that his experience at Valley has been surprisingly positive, based on his past experiences in a bigger university. 

“I was used to a giant university and came here and discovered that this is pretty up to speed,” Crawley said. “The people here and the processes that I am familiar with were sophisticated and up to date.”

“Having somebody that had some experiences in the past, like Dave, it is kind of nice to have as a coming factor to the new people,” Fedorowich said. 

The Viking Athletic Department has also the goal of improving every year its facilities and equipment. During this fall semester, treatment and tape tables were replaced in the Burns Athletic Training room. The AT Department plans to change the flooring and create extra storage during this academic year. 

“Every year we look at different things, we evaluate, and we kinda go through and we say, ‘is there something that we can work on?’” Fedorowich said.