19 years ago, Jessika Hunt came to the University of California, Riverside (UCR) looking for a change. The growing UCR Athletics department provided just that. Hunt originally began as an assistant athletic trainer and currently serves as the head athletic trainer. She mainly works with men’s basketball, having recently finished her fourth season with the team. Throughout her tenure at UCR she has worked with most of the sports.
“I joke around that an athletic trainer is a jack of all trades. We do a little bit of everything. We do injury prevention, we do evaluations, rehab and therapy. We coordinate care with physicians and specialists. We do a little bit with nutrition, we do a little bit with mental health, we do a little bit of everything. So we’re kind of like a case manager mixed with healthcare providers all at the same time,” shared Hunt.
Hunt works closely with Dr. Buller, who serves as the head team physician for UCR Athletics. Dr. Buller began as a team physician before he was hired full time in 2021. Underneath Hunt, there are several athletic trainers who work closely with the athletes to ensure continuity of care if the athletes themselves are traveling, or if their designated sports trainer is traveling.
“If one of my students isn’t traveling but I need them to continue therapy, we all step in, and we will work collectively to make sure that things run smoothly,” she explained, emphasizing her values of teamwork.
Currently, Hunt is in the off-season for men’s basketball, so she uses this time to catch up on any overlooked administration items such as making sure student insurance claims are processed. When she’s in-season, she prepares the team for practice: “Taping, stretching, rehab, blisters, whatever they may need,” said Hunt.
After practice, she joins the team in the weight room and works with the strength coaches to ensure proper form. After weights, she comes back to the clinic and checks in with the athletic trainers and performs treatments on any of her athletes in need.
The clinic is available for all UCR athletes to use. If they don’t need one on one attention, they can use the equipment provided in the clinic.
“We have Normatech recovery booths, massage guns, foam rolling. [The clinic] is also a big hangout spot, which can be a little hectic when we have a lot of people in here. They’ll come in [and] get warmed up, stretched, prepped for activity, whatever it may be,” said Hunt.
In the future, Hunt has high hopes for what UCR’s athletic training clinic could look like. Hunt shared, “But how athletics, when we do well, how much it can help and promote the campuses as a whole. It helps with visibility. It helps with that feeling of school pride.”
The addition of more athletic trainers, additional strength and conditioning coaches, a full-time nutritionist and a full-time mental health practitioner could be game-changing for UCR athletics, providing athletes with a holistic approach to wellness and recovery.
