The Berkeley Beacon

Issue date: 10/9/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Irina Grechko Nicole Bottino was recently hired as athletic trainer at Emerson. Bottino previously worked for Northeastern University.

When she was 15 years old, Nicole Bottino—Emerson’s newest athletic trainer who was hired midway through this semester after Jen Dowd resigned from the position due to personal reasons—ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee during a high school soccer game.  After surgery and five months of grueling rehab, Bottino returned to soccer only to suffer the same injury in her right knee a year later.

Despite the dual setbacks, Bottino would recover and go on to play Division I soccer at Northeastern University in Boston.  The convalescence, she said, is what inspired her to get into sports training.

“The help I received from my athletic trainer and physical therapist, which allowed me to return to play soccer, made me want to help people the way they helped me,” Bottino said.  “Now as an athletic trainer, I’m able to help athletes that are recovering from trauma associated with sports injuries. I look forward to coming to work every day because I know I have the ability to make a difference in the lives of the student athletes I work with.”

In college, Bottino, an athletic training major, worked clinical rotations with Harvard University and Simmons College sports, including ice hockey and football.

Upon her graduation in 2007, Bottino was hired as an athletic trainer for her alma mater’s football and volleyball teams.  She worked with the Huskies for a year and a half until this fall, when she hired by Emerson as a full-time employee.

“I decided to come to Emerson because I have a great deal of respect for Division III athletes,” Bottino said.   “They play for the love of the sport, where in Division I, there is money involved.”

Bottino’s role at Emerson will be to work with varsity athletes when they are hurt, rehabilitate athletes through physical therapy and be the first responder whenever an athlete is hurt during a game or practice.  The latter responsibility entails arriving at Emerson practices and games when a player is injured and making the decision to give athletes immediate treatment or call 911.

Bottino will be the assistant to Corey Dawkins, Emerson’s head athletic trainer who will also be on call during Emerson sporting events.

Bottino said she is a licensed and certified athletic trainer and has taught at athletic laboratories. She was hired by Dawkins and Director of Athletics Kristin Parnell, who were impressed with her resume.

“Nicole was highly recommended by the people in the athletic training program at Northeastern University,” Parnell said. “We have an existing relationship with Northeastern for student athletic trainers, so they understand our needs in that area.

“Our athletic training staff is vitally important to the success of our programs,” Parnell continued. “One of the main pathways to building successful athletic programs is keeping everyone healthy, allowing teams to remain competitive.  Our athletics trainers have three main duties:  injury prevention, injury assessment and injury rehabilitation.  All three of those are equally important in the development of every team we sponsor.”

Parnell said that with more than 200 student-athletes at Emerson, Bottino’s job will be demanding. But if passion is any indicator, wounded Lions will be in good hands.

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