For a competitive swimmer, an asset in the water can be a liability on land. Her loose joints and ligaments, which provide the increased range of motion needed to excel in her sport, can make her more likely to roll her ankle on ground. But whether injuries come from shoulder overuse in the pool or land-based sprains, members of the Rutgers swimming and diving team can count on Jen Steinberg to care for them.
Now in her 13th year with the Scarlet Knights, Steinberg is the designated athletic trainer for women’s lacrosse, field hockey, and swimming and diving—responsible for 70 female athletes in all. As part of her job, she attends home and away events and in-season practices; designs and implements rehabilitation programs; refers players to physicians; and schedules MRIs and monitors recovery.
Once an athlete completes her rehabilitation program, Steinberg has to clear her for return to the sport. With a lacrosse player recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, for example, Steinberg uses a special machine to measure the difference in strength between the surgical and the nonsurgical leg. Other criteria: “You need good quad girth,” Steinberg says. “You need to be able to run, cut, jump, decelerate, and stop.”
The athletes’ emotional wellness is as much a part of her job as any. “They come to me to talk about things they would normally bring to their parents, or things they feel uncomfortable discussing with their coaches,” Steinberg says. “Trainers can know athletes better than the coaches who recruited them. We see them daily, and we catch up on their personal lives.”
— Lara De Meo RC’97