Children's Wisconsin, MPS athletic trainers partnership

MILWAUKEE - At every high school sporting event, you will find athletes, coaches and parents all pulling for a win. But probably more so than a victory, everyone wants to see the student-ahtletes walk away healthy.

That's typically where an athletic trainer like Tyler Friis comes in.

"I think having athletic trainers there can really bring some peace of mind to the kids and their parents as well as the coaches," said Friis. "If a kid does get injured, there's someone there to make sure that they're taking care of and proper care happens."

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During any game, you can find Friis keeping a close eye on the action.

"We're looking for how kids are moving, if a kid falls down, how do they look when they're getting up," Friis said. "You're looking for possible signs of head injury, you're looking for kids' mannerisms. Are they favoring one side more than the other? And seeing if you need to have a conversation with the kid about what's going on."

Friis is a trainer with Children's Wisconsin, which is now partnering with Milwaukee Public Schools. The school district reached out for help after losing its trainers for the 2022-2023 school year.

"It's extremely important to have athletic trainers at high school athletic events," said Kat Tase, supervisor of the Sports Medicine Outreach Program at Children's Wisconsin. "There's a lot of injuries that can happen. There's a lot of really scary injuries that can happen. So having an athletic trainer on site for high school sports is really important."

(FOX6 News Milwaukee)

The majority of injuries are going to be minor, but you never know when a major event could happen.

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Coaches and parents are now more at ease, knowing trainers will have their kids' backs.

"I don't want to sound dramatic, but I mean, in situations like Damar Hamlin, that's something that we saw on the news last year," Tase said. "But there really can be cardiac events or really severe injuries that can happen. And without a trained personnel that knows how to stay calm and respond appropriately and quickly. It could be a matter of life and death."

This is just the start for Children's Wisconsin, which plans to expand to all sports within MPS.

"I'm biased, but I think the impact is huge because MPS is the largest school district in the state, and by us going in there and helping to do this, we're impacting everyone going to Milwaukee Public Schools, including younger kids and middle school," said Dr. Kevin Walter, medical director of the Children's Wisconsin Sports Medicine Program. "And so I think the impact right now is big."

Friis said his job is not only to address the situation at hand, but to also put an athlete on the best track to recovery.

"Having someone there to kind of basically show me what to do after an injury and be there to take care of you, I think was something I really appreciate," said Friis. "And wanting to kind of pay that forward is really what I like being able to do."

Children's Wisconsin currently has four full-time trainers who support MPS athletics. They continue to search for more trainers to add to the rotation.