To The Rescue

Paso Robles welcomes a new athletic trainer, Kevin Williams, After athletes face an entire fall sports season in jeopardy

Student athletes rush to the athletic trainer’s door in hopes to receive some sort of relief from the pain they are experiencing but are suddenly stopped and rejected by a sad, cold, locked door. After the athletic trainer’s room being closed up and lifeless for a whole semester, PRHS is finally ready to welcome Kevin Williams to fill the ominous void.

Williams is an Athletic Trainer coming from Bakersfield, California.

“I worked at Cal State Bakersfield for almost four years. There I served as the assistant athletic director for sports medicine. Prior to Cal State, I worked at Academy of Art University in San Francisco for almost five years,” Williams said.

He and his wife of seven years, Julia Williams spend their time doing activities such as kayaking, hiking, camping, and traveling. They also enjoy cooking and trying new restaurants in their free time. The Williams are expecting their first child in June, but for now take pride in their dog, Titus.

Williams decided to become an athletic trainer after he discovered his profound admiration for the human body and decided to put this into his future. Williams, as well as athletic trainers all over the world help aid with prevention, assessment, treatment and recovery of injuries and illnesses for athletes.

“I’ve always been surrounded by sports and had a knack for anatomy. I felt like this career was a good blend, considering my love for anatomy and how the human body works. Being a part of a team culture is what kind of led me to this career field,” Williams said.

Williams was brought closer to the west coast after he heard about the job opening from a close friend.

“My wife is originally from the Central Coast. So, ultimately we’ve been trying to get back to the Central Coast to be closer to friends and family. One of my college friends that works in the area as an athletic trainer told me about the position and I jumped at it as fast as I could,” Williams said.

With over nine years of experience under his belt, Williams has had to deal with occurrences that really stuck with him. One of the most challenging though, was something that everyone in the world also got to experience with him – Covid-19.

“I would say navigating the Covid-19 era in athletics is something I’ll never forget. It was challenging, but it also allowed me to work with and learn from many great athletic trainers, team doctors, and other healthcare professionals in the community. This experience helped me grow professionally and create a network of healthcare professionals that I can collaborate with for years to come,” Williams said.

Since Williams began working at PRHS, he has already helped with the recovery of numerous students. Such students include Shane Vaughn (12) and Tristen Salgado (11). During the absence of an athletic trainer, in October of 2022, Vaughn was injured in an intense football game against Mission Prep. While he faced a potential neck and back injury then, he understands the importance of having an athletic trainer now.

Vaughn injured his ankle during a wrestling match in January 2023, and began treatment for it the following day. In a short time, with the help of the athletic trainer, Vaughn has almost fully recovered.

“He’s already helped me so much with recovery. I’m just thankful that I’m actually able to do things now. But having no trainer during sports, especially during my first injury, was really challenging. Having someone who knows what to do is just really helpful,” Vaughn said.

Salgado is also facing the same challenge. Salgado injured his ankle during practice after coming back from being sick. Salgado attempted a lay up before falling back down to earth and planting into the ground, inverting his foot under him in the process.

Salgado began treatment within minutes. He was able to get some ice applied for the night and then start rehabilitation the next day.

“I sprained my ankle this past week and immediately, I’ve already started to recover and get treatment for it. So, as opposed to football when I had to go through these like, longer type treatments, it’s immediate.” said Salgado.

After already making a big impression amongst students, athletes, parents and staff, PRHS has finally felt a wave of relief now that they have a set athletic trainer.