{"id":7874,"date":"2024-05-03T23:26:37","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T23:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/?p=7874"},"modified":"2026-01-22T21:31:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T21:31:27","slug":"how-athletic-trainer-found-passion-on-the-pitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/news\/how-athletic-trainer-found-passion-on-the-pitch\/","title":{"rendered":"How an athletic trainer found his passion on the pitch | The NAU Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Growing up, Enrique De La Cruz<\/strong> loved soccer. He found his passion on the pitch and didn\u2019t want to leave that behind when it came time to pick a career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He hasn\u2019t\u2014though it\u2019s not quite the athletic career one might expect. De La Cruz is earning a master\u2019s degree in athletic training while working with professional soccer club Phoenix Rising FC, helping keep the players healthy while still getting to do what he loves most. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI played football in my life. I understand the sport,\u201d De La Cruz said. \u201cI understand the demands that the body needs for it\u2014the mechanics, the techniques and so on.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Athletic<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Athletic trainers are a critical part of every athletic team, particularly in the world of professional sports where athletes are pushing their bodies to the limit daily. They are primarily responsible for rehabilitation and injury prevention among athletes, both in practice and during competitions\u2014sometimes even playing a lifesaving role, such as with football player Damar Hamlin<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That desire to be on the front lines of the sport led De La Cruz, a first-generation student, into athletic training and eventually into NAU\u2019s master\u2019s program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When thinking about a major, De La Cruz was drawn toward both physical therapy and athletic training. He knew that he \u201calways wanted to come back to sports.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

#DYK? An athletic trainer is the first person to show up when an athlete gets injured. ATs assist with every facet of the behind-the-scenes lifestyle of an athlete, ensuring healthy recovery from injuries and a body that is prepared to perform at its full potential out on the field. The relationship between the trainer and the athlete is symbiotic; together, the player and the athletic trainer work on the big picture of keeping the athlete healthy in the long term. This includes applying tape or braces to protect or prevent injuries, applying first aid for an on-field injury, and implementing rehabilitative care in the event of an injury.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since beginning his work with Phoenix Rising, De La Cruz has honed his skills as a trainer. He enjoys getting to know the players and working with the rest of the team, including athletes and professional staff. The team won a United Soccer League Championship last year, thanks in some part to people like De La Cruz. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Athletic<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The faculty and staff who make up NAU\u2019s Athletic Training program work with De La Cruz to prepare him for a career in athletic training. From the program\u2019s hands-on experiences to its passion-fueled professors, De La Cruz has attained invaluable insight that has helped shape the trainer he is today. The master\u2019s in athletic training (MSAT) program offered at NAU\u2019s Flagstaff mountain campus and the Phoenix Bioscience Core is primed to deepen one\u2019s expertise and expand one\u2019s professional network, an opportunity that De La Cruz was more than happy to capitalize on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor those who want to get into athletic training, I want to make sure they understand what it takes to be an athletic trainer including the time commitment, and all the unexpected issues that may arise as well,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to keep going\u2014keep hacking away, letting people know what it is we do and just how much we know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more, visit the NAU athletic training program at NAU, visit Athletic Training<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As seen in The NAU Review.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enrique De La Cruz describes his passion for soccer and his experiences in NAU’s Athletic Training program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":769,"featured_media":7875,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"10066,2483,8513,7836,10042,7630","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletic-training","category-college-of-health-and-human-services","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/769"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7874"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10112,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7874\/revisions\/10112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}