Among a towering crowd of football players stands a person strapped up with her fanny pack, filled with bandages and athletic tape. She moves up and down the sidelines with all the players, eyeing the field and watching as play goes on. As a Patriot goes down gripping their leg, her attention is caught and she finds herself running onto the field with her interns alongside to support. This person is none other than athletic trainer, Brenna Allen.
Now working at the school for just under a year, Allen treats sports injuries and her patients with care and compassion while teaching her interns to do the same. Growing up around sports and playing soccer, Allen knew that she wanted to continue being part of the sports world and shadowed her high school athletic trainer while finding joy in taking science courses. “When I was doing athletic training in college, I would take classes starting at 7:30 a.m. one after the other until about 2 and then at 3:30, I would start doing my clinical rotation which meant that I was in my college athletic training room shadowing them,” Allen said.
Originally from Florida, Allen’s family moved up to Maryland while she was in college, and when her grandparents got sick, she joined them to help out. She debated whether or not to pursue a secondary degree in physician assistant or continue with athletic training; however, taking a job at her brother’s high school solidified her choice. “I started working in the high school setting and I fell back in love with athletic training,” Allen said.
Allen became the fourth trainer to join the school community after MCPS faced a shortage of trainers in the past school year. “It’s a nice feeling to not immediately call 911 because that was the plan in place if there was anything we couldn’t handle on the sideline,” athletic director Alton Lightsey said.
Today, Allen is an integral part of the community, being a lifeline to players, coaches and administration on the sidelines. “First, having a trainer is a huge help,” girls’ varsity soccer coach Chris Thompson said. “She’s a great communicator. Anytime a player goes to her, I hear from her in the next hour, if not less. She comes out to see me and talks to me about it or she texts me.”
Alongside treating players, Allen works with her three high school interns to teach them basic training, like wrapping ankles and is currently working to get athletic training at an approved internship site throughout the county. “All around my favorite has been my moments with my interns; being able to teach them and see them get excited about athletic training and see them get interested and ask questions,” Allen said.
Her interns feel the same way, enjoying spending their time learning and being around Allen. “I love working with Brenna,” junior intern Leanne Brown said. “She is a really fun person to be around and work with overall and has a really friendly personality.”
When she’s not on the field, you can find Allen in her office, located to the left of the girls’ locker room entrance in the basement, or enjoying a nice book, spending time with family, or quilting in her free time. Her advice to those looking to pursue a career in sports medicine: “Just get out there and try different things and different aspects of it.”
