On June 1, Jonathan Hartman started on the greatest experiences of his life. He flew to Bradenton, Florida, to become an intern athletic trainer for the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball organization.
Hartman lived with the players, went out on the town with them, and also worked with the players, extending his knowledge of athletic training.
Hartman ended his experience nine weeks later on July 31sthoping that with that experience under his belt, he can work with professional sports when he finishes college.
As the only athletic trainer intern for the Pirates at this time, Hartman had a lot of work to do. His day would start at six AM and would end around three PM every day. At the end of the nine weeks he worked for 525 hours, which is about 58 hours a week.
When asked about what he did on a daily basis Hartman said, “I started off setting up the training room, and the field, then I would rehab the players that had injuries, and I would prep the players for practice. Then the players would stretch, and practice would start. During practice I mostly worked with the pitchers, but the other players would practice with their positions, for example infielders would practice together, outfielders would practice together.
“Then the team would come together and run team fundamental drills. During all this I would be watching and waiting for an injury to happen so I could get real time experience.”
Hartman also traveled with the team when they went to away games. “My favorite places to go to were the Phillies facility in Clearwater, FL, the Yankees facility in Tampa, FL, and the Tigers facility in Lakeland, FL.” Hartman explained.
Hartman worked mostly with the pitchers learning how to make correct evaluations on shoulders and arms.
Hartman said, “My favorite players to work on were Chris Leroux, and Arron Poreda. Both are pitchers for the Pirates”
With all of the people he met during his internship Hartman hopes that they will be able to help him in the future as references of his skill as an athletic trainer.
Hartman is a senior at Plymouth State University and works with the Plymouth State Football team as an athletic trainer. Hartman wants to continue on to graduate school to complete his Master’s degree in Athletic Training. Hartman is looking at a few division 1 colleges, but the top school that Hartman wants attend is University of West Virginia.
Hartman said, “I want to go to West Virginia because of the benefits of the program there. I will be able to work with the football team in the pre-season and the baseball team in the spring. Other programs only allow trainers to work with one team.”