Trainers help create a winning environment

 

By JEFF GARD, NORTHUMBERLAND TODAY

Updated 1 day ago

COBOURG -- Hockey is a physical sport, so key members of any team are the trainers.

Within the team this season, the Cobourg Cougars have a whole new set of trainers. By no means are their full-time trainers new to junior hockey, though. In fact, one of them isn't even new to the Cougars.

Erica Davis enjoyed a three-year stint with the Cougars about a decade ago while Joe Aiello spent 2001 to 2009 with the former Port Hope Predators organization until it relocated to Trenton.

"It was just time to get back involved with sports," Davis said of her decision to return. "Todd's (general manager Todd Diminie) done a great job of getting everybody local back on board."

Aiello was a trainer the past two seasons for the Port Hope Panthers junior C hockey club. While he enjoyed his time there, he's excited to return to the junior A level.

"I can't speak enough about the ownership and the management of that (Panthers) team. They treated me very well. Like a player, I want to be a trainer at the highest possible level I can be at, based on the qualifications I have," Aiello said. "First of all, to get back to the provincial junior A level, that was probably the first big excitement point. Secondly, I think the Cougars, even though they've been established for a long time, they're going through a bit of a rebirth right now with the rink, a lot of new management, a lot of new personnel. From everything I can see, it's going to be an exciting year."

Davis said one of the things she enjoyed most about her first stint with the Cougars was "seeing the kids improve, seeing them excel.

"It was a good team environment," she added. "Everybody kind of did their own thing, and did it well. All the pieces fit very nicely together."

In her role as trainer, though, Davis -- who works as a paramedic -- said she doesn't just concentrate on the club's wins and losses.

"I look at it from a different point of view, not so much it's all about the hockey, the winning," she said. "I'm looking at it like that's somebody's child and my job here is to make sure they're safe, my job here is to do the best they can do and if there's any way we can help, whether it's off-ice (training), looking after injuries or whatever, that's the pieces I'm looking to contribute."

However, players being in the best shape and health possible can help create a winning environment, she agreed.

 

Davis said thankfully with the option of shift exchanges where she works, she has the time to commit to working with a junior A hockey club.

"The fact that we've gone with two full-time trainers on the bench and one part-time has made it a lot more feasible for everybody," Davis said.

Also important for the Cougars, Davis noted, is to have chiropractor Dr. Wayne Woodland, doctor Dr. Colin Dahle and dentist Dr. Dave Narine as well as Cobourg Orthopaedic & Sports Injury Clinic all on board to help the players if necessary.

"Fact that they're local and everybody was more than happy to come out is great," Davis said.

Meanwhile, Aiello had no previous training experience when he got involved with the Predators in 2001, other than taking the required Level I and II courses from the Ontario Hockey Association. The team had just been purchased and renamed the Predators and when he approached the club.

Port Hope's trainers Ken Johnston and Mike Bryant took Aiello under their wing, he said. He soon became a Level III trainer, which is the highest level for the OHA, Aiello said. He also picked up some great skills, like taping, from watching Johnston and Bryant work and then doing it himself.

"They were super-gracious and for the first couple of years I basically followed their lead, and sat and observed and as the years progressed I did more and more," Aiello said. "Eventually Kenny moved on and it was basically Mike and myself and Al Mac-Donald."

Aiello believes you need to have strong interpersonal skills as a trainer.

"You have to be close to the players, not as a buddy-buddy, but definitely on a professional level to understand what ailments they may or may not have or what medical issues they have that may come into play down the road," he said.

While maybe not wanting to be "buddy-buddy," there still can be a "mentoring aspect" of being a trainer, which Aiello enjoys.

"You always become closer to some players than others, and some of them will seek advice from you. Not that I would ever replace their parents, but certainly it's nice for them to be able to go to someone and give them an ear and share a little bit of advice," he said. "It's nice to be able to see them succeed, not only on the ice, but off the ice. That makes me happy to see that."

Aiello is looking forward to working with Davis.

"I'm hoping to learn some things from her on (the medical) end of it, and hopefully I can impart some skills that I have towards her," he said.

There is a third member to the training staff as Dr. Paul Davison will also help out as often as possible. He brings a chiropractic background to the club.

"I think it's going to be a great team," Aiello said, "for this year and hopefully many more to come."

jgard@northumberlandtoday.com twitter.com/NT_jgard