Dan “G” Gotthardt, is the head Athletic Trainer of LHS. Along with being the school’s trainer, Gotthardt is also the mentor for the student athletic training club. A lot of students that have gone through the student training club have furthered their interest in athletic training, making a career out of it. Gotthardt says that many of his students have “come back to thank me” for teaching them.

Although Gotthardt loves his occupation, he has not always been an athletic trainer. Before going back to college to study kinesiology, Gotthardt was a firefighter for seven years. When I asked him which occupation he favored more he responded with, “Although the hours in training suck, I love it. But I also really loved the excitement of firefighting.”

To become an Athletic Trainer, Gotthardt had to find an approved curriculum at a four year school, go through their athletic training program, obtain internship hours, and finally, take the final certification test. While it does take a lot of hard work and dedication to become an Athletic Trainer, Gotthardt explained that it was totally worth it.

Gotthardt has various favorite things about being an Athletic Trainer; one being, the hours. Most trainers get to choose what sporting events they want to work and often the hours they want to work as well. Another thing Gotthardt loves about being a trainer is all of the people he gets to meet. “I love meeting new people every time I work sporting events, all of the different personalities interest me.” Gotthardt explained to me that his all-time favorite thing about being an Athletic Trainer is that not every day is the same and there is always something new.