Broos Training Room Provides Space for Healing and Learning

Walking through the new Mary G. Broos Training Facility in the basement of Alumni Gym, the first thing that strikes me is the huge space. The old training room only had four treatment tables, but now nine shiny crimson treatment tables flank two walls. In the old room, student-athletes often had to awkwardly hop on counters for treatment on. Now a large, low, gray table connected to an island provides ample work space.



The offices of the new training room



Two spacious offices for staff sit on the back wall next to a short hallway, which leads to an evaluation room for visiting team doctors. In the middle of the training room an island connects with the gray table, which holds various supplies. The old space only had two cramped offices and no private evaluation area. Opposite the offices and evaluation room, twin ice baths provide plenty of space for post practice and post-game soaking.

The old training room, now a refurbished locker room, will serve different teams based on season and need. Athletes and trainers packed in the old space like pedestrians in a subway. I remember vividly student-athletes packing the room looking for treatment. There was always a struggle to accommodate everyone. When we hosted teams there was even less room as visiting teams also needed treatment.

“We can take care of a lot more people a lot faster than we used to,” said assistant athletic trainer Danielle Duffy. “The fact that we can fit a soccer team and a volleyball team and a football team, plus visiting teams, makes our jobs a lot easier.”

Head athletic trainer Gary Rizza also noted how the new facility will help attract students to the college and aid coaches in recruiting.

“Coaches can bring recruits down here with their parents and see what we have in here, as well as what’s out on the field,” said Rizza.

The old training facility, now a locker room

One thing in particular that I like, and visiting recruits will like as well, is the ice bath room. I use the ice baths often after basketball practice and they are great for tired legs. In the old training room, the ice baths were in the main room, sandwiched between the ice machine and two treatment tables. The quarters were cramped and rubber mats were required because the floor was not slip-resistant. I almost fell several times. Now there is more space for the tubs and the floors are designed for wet feet.

Assistant athletic trainer Jared Siglin noted out how the old facility also did not stack up against the competition in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

“You look at a place like Virginia Wesleyan, that doesn’t have a football team, and they had a bigger space than we did,” said Siglin. “Four treatment tables (in the old facility) were not enough for all the students we had coming in. We were behind the times.”

Duffy added the old facility did not fit all the people and waiting became an issue. It was also old, occupying the same space since Alumni Gym was constructed in 1950.

The space is named for Broos, Guilford’s athletic trainer from 1978 to 2008, because of her over 30 years of service and to honor her role as a trailblazer in the profession. When she started at Guilford in 1978 she was the only woman in charge of a college sports medicine program in North Carolina. Broos did not expect the room to be named in her honor and was very emotional about the new training space.

“I felt very humbled and very surprised to be honored. I never dreamed about this happening. It was just a shock,” said Broos. “The room will allow students more space to come in and work as well as learn.”

Story by Will Cloyd 

Musically and on the Pitching Mound, Winterstein is at the Top of His Game



Winterstein '12



Coming off an injury is one of the most frustrating experiences an athlete can go through. Rehabilitation is a difficult experience that presents trial and hardship more than any other athletic preparation. For Guilford senior pitcher Micah Winterstein, aka DJ Skywalker, this frustration was doubled due to the nature of his injury and its consequences.

“In high school l started having pain my junior year in my elbow and the doctor and I weren’t sure what was causing the pain, so I did some therapy,” said Winterstein. What started out as tendonitis led to a tear, and Winterstein underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow after his senior year. This procedure takes a tendon from another part of the body and replaces the ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow. This double procedure is highly risky and the rehabilitation process is long.

“After Tommy John it was very discouraging, because there wasn’t an immediate time that I could get back on the field,” said Winterstein.

It was also in high school that Winterstein began to DJ as a hobby.

“It started out as a hobby for sure. Music is something that I really love and have a strong passion for and as I progressively did it more and got better at it, that hobby became something I could use as a job.”

At Guilford Winterstein met, and began to collaborate with hip-hop artist Beau Young Prince, a fellow student. The pair hit it off and opened shows for major artists, such as Chiddy Bang and Wale.

After the surgery, Winterstein didn’t play at all his freshman year and played for the Quakers' developmental baseball team in 2010. Assistant baseball coach Daniel Hadra saw potential in Winterstein and suggested he drop down to a sidearm release from his more conventional over-the-top release.

“Coming off his previous arm surgery, I didn’t see him having a spot on the team. He wasn’t good enough,” said Hadra. “I saw he wanted to play and he’s extremely athletic. I thought dropping down wouldn’t be a drastic change.”

Winterstein’s new sidearm release made him far more effective.

“My strength isn’t blowing by people, but it’s relying on how much I can move the ball and putting the ball where I want,” Winterstein said. “Pitching sidearm allowed me to get more of that movement.”

In 2011 he came into his own as a pitcher. Winterstein posted a team-best 2.45 earned run average in 22 innings. He pitched effectively in 12 appearances out of the bullpen. His effectiveness was even more noticeable due to his interesting pitching style. Entering his senior season Hadra, has high expectations of Winterstein.

“He’ll come out of the bullpen and pitch two, three, four innings. I really want to get to him as fast as I can,” said Hadra. “He (Winterstein) had the best fall of any pitcher on the team. He’s much better than last year. He has much more confidence.”

As for his future as a DJ, Winterstein continues to take music one day at a time. He is not affiliated with any record label, although Popup Shop Records supports Beau Young Prince. The duo continue to collaborate and do shows on campus, as well as off.

Winterstein’s is at the top of his game musically and on the baseball diamond. He’s taking his success and his future plans one day at a time though, for someone who had to overcome so much adversity that only makes sense.