Jessica Ringo

Definitely my faith first and foremost. I know that no matter what is going on, it's part of God's plan and He's got me no matter what. Having that peace helps make the hard days a little easier, it gives me something higher to lean on. Then absolutely my family. They have always supported me, no matter what, whether it's trucking me to all my different athletic events growing up, to supporting my career choices, even if they weren't the easiest or the most lucrative, always being there for me. My mom comes to every single athletic event that I cover that she can get to, to support me and my team, and I think that's huge. My athletes know that "Momma Debbie" will on the sidelines for them cheering them on, and that speaks to my support of them as well which is such a big thing for them. My partner is also an ATC/PT, and he is extremely supportive of my schedule, even though I'm gone for long stretches of time. He understands that the work-life balance might not always be there, and that's okay, because I'm doing what I love. I literally would not be able to work this profession without them.

I know it's cheesy, but if you work a job you love, you'll never work a day in your life. If you can find joy in what you're doing, it's never difficult. That's not to say there aren't hard days, but the joy that you get from it, and the success that you feel from that is worth getting through the hard days. So I think definitely finding something that you are joyful and passionate about it more important than pretty much anything else in a job.

Do not be afraid to advocate for yourself. It is traditionally a man's field, and it's only within the past 10 to 20 years that we've seen women at the professional level. The Pittsburgh Steelers trainer, Ariko Iso, was the first full time female ATC in the NFL, and she was hired in 2002. So it is up and coming for women in the profession. I think this is the perfect place for us to be, because we can balance the work ethic and the drive, but we do have that nurturing nature as well, which is super helpful in this field. Especially working with women's sports and advocating for them, women's sports are exploding right now as far as media coverage and news so that's a huge area that we can jump in on and be part of that from the sports medicine side of things. So don't be afraid to push the boundaries and demand the opportunities that we should have.

Opportunities in our field are rapidly growing. We're now seeing athletic trainers in the military, in Cirque du Soleil, industrial athletic training in the Amazon workplace and with the airlines, there are so many opportunities available to us now. We're also being allowed to learn and perform more skills, like sutures and dry needling and casting, things that weren't part of our scope of practice before. We are bound by our state guidelines so different states are allowing more and more things for us to be able to do our jobs better, which is really exciting. I would say the biggest challenge is always just the work-life balance. We are on call for these athletes pretty much 24/7, if one of them goes to the ER in the middle of the night, they're calling us. So I might have to get up and go be there with them because mom and dad are 12 hours away. So that is a challenge, but it's also a gift, because you get to be that person for these kids, and you get to be the one that helps get them through. As far as schedules, it depends on what sports you work. I worked basketball for a few years, and you don't really get a Thanksgiving or a Christmas, but you could go to the NCAA Championship, so it's a give and take. But as long as you advocate for yourself and your athletes and set the boundaries, then it's not too much of a challenge.

Definitely integrity and communication. Being in the healthcare field you have to have integrity. Your athletes have to be able to trust you with their health and well-being, and your physicians have to be able to trust you to deliver the best care, even if it might not always be the easiest thing. You have to be worthy of that trust and respect and earn it. So I would say integrity is one of the biggest things. And then communication, because we are the liaison between physicians, coaches, athletes, PTs, nutritionists, mental health professionals, etc. We have to communicate with everyone to ensure the athlete's at their peak performance, so that is an incredibly important skill.