Trainer Jack Famiglio tapes a football players ankle. Since coming to CCHS, Famiglio has been a great help to all student athletes. Photo Credit: ALEXANDRA MADAR
Walking into Cooper City High School’s new athletic trainer’s office, you might think you were in the training room for the Miami Dolphins. Skillfully wrapped hands, iced ankles, and rehabilitation appointments are everyday occurrences for CCHS’s new trainer Jack Famiglio. As the head athletic trainer, Famiglio is responsible for the wellbeing of every athlete who encounters an injury. While taping up one football player masterfully, he also he also directs 4 other athletes to do various exercises. To some his tasks might seem daunting, however to Famiglio, it’s just an everyday routine.
Famiglio started off as a marine biology major until he met the trainer at his college, Marist University. This instantly influenced him to change his major and he soon earned his bachelor’s degree in the science of athletic training. He spent four years as a high school and college trainer in New York before coming down to Florida. He moved down because he grew up in Weston and likes the weather and climate in Florida. Famiglio worked with Excel Sports Performance, which is a functional training company for athletes. The purpose of functional training is to teach fitness through sports motions such as a baseball swing or a football pass. After leaving Excel Sports, Famiglio took over as the head trainer at CCHS.
He works with athletes from all sports here at CCHS, including swimming, football, and volleyball. Jack deals with numerous injuries and uses many techniques to help student athlete’s get back in the game.
“I had a high ankle sprain that the trainer has helped me recover from,” junior Heather Lockwood said. “He has done rehab with me every day for almost two weeks to get me back on the court as quickly as possible.”
Currently players come visit him, and he works on them for as long as it takes for them to heal properly. For athletes with injuries that require rehab, he is using a series of exercises that help better the athlete’s balance, stability, and core. Some of the various exercises he requires are leg lifts with weights, balancing techniques, and stretching the body to gain back flexibility. The goal of this work is to prevent future injuries.
“Injuries can be prevented by good training, better techniques in the gym, and proper rehab.” Famiglio said, “New precautions are being brought in every year, and high school athletes are most prone because they are not fully developed.”
Famiglio comes prepared and knows how to keep teens safe during sporting events. To coaches and players he has been a major help and they say that he is the right man for the job. His plans currently are to stay at Cooper City High School for a few years as the athletic trainer. He would also like to see the school start a functional training programming to better all athletes from every sport.
