Cypress College Athletic Trainer Rachael Kirkpatrick Works with U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team to Win Gold

By: Monica Badolian

CYPRESS, CA - Cypress College Athletic Trainer Rachael Kirkpatrick worked with the U.S. Men's National Volleyball team to secure the gold medal this past tournament. 

On Sunday in Edmonton, Alberta, the U.S. Men's National Team defeated Canada (25-21, 25-14, 25-16) for gold at the 2023 NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six. Kirkpatrick talks about her time spent with the team and her position as their athletic trainer. "It was amazing, it was extremely fun. Long hours of hard work but one thousand percent worth it," she said. "What I ended up doing in the first week was just training; their training facility is in Anaheim. In the morning, they go in, have practices, and I worked with them as an athletic trainer."

Kirkpatrick had been working with the team for two weeks. "They had been training for a total of a month, but obviously, I couldn't leave for a month, so I was able to split the time with another athletic trainer," Kirkpatrick said. "They were super welcoming, great to work with, it made that transition seamless."

USA Volleyball's director of sports, Aaron Brock, reached out to Kirkpatrick regarding the position. " I have a relationship with their head athletic trainer on the men's side, Aaron Brock. During my undergrad at Chapman, I had done an internship in 2012 that summer. I worked with them for two months heading into that last training block before going to the Olympics," she said. "As athletic training students you go through clinical rotations where you are shadowing and working with other athletic trainers. But it's meant to give you live hands-on experience with the job. Once I did that I was like this is something I definitely want to do."

Kirkpatrick enjoys working at Cypress College as an athletic trainer but aspires to work in the Olympics someday. "My career goal is working at the Olympics so for me it's definitely a step in the right direction. To be able to represent on team USA was incredibly cool," she said. 

"For me I love working at Cypress and I love this job. I'm definitely not in a place where I'd want to transition to doing something like USA Volleyball full time. I love the complexity of working with multiple sports. But I do love the opportunity to travel and still work with teams and do little bits here and there," Kirkpatrick said.

While Kirkpatrick enjoys working as an athletic trainer she knows not all days are going to be perfect and easy but she makes sure she's there for all athletes. "You have to understand some days are really tough, some days are really great, some days need celebrating, some days need consoling," she said. "So to be able to help and support and professionally be that extra element of family and home when they're in such a new and different time in their lives is really rewarding for me. When I can be there for them and get the most out of them clinically which then turns into the most out of them in their sport too."

Kirkpatrick advises students who are interested in becoming an athletic trainer to take multiple internships and make sure it's something you're passionate about. "I say get involved in it as soon as you possibly can. It's a lot of work, it's tough, it's long hours, it's a busy schedule, it's traveling. But if sports and science and all of that is something that drives you and you love it then it's probably gonna be for you. Those things to me, I love," she said. 

"But it's also a lot of administrative work and working with coaches, and a lot of egos and officials and you have to be able to stand up for yourself and your medical decisions, and stand up for your patients when they're not doing it for themselves or when other people are forcing it," Kirkpatrick said. "It's challenging and that's why I recommend it if you can do an internship here or another athletic training clinic and in an environment you think you might enjoy. Just try out different locations to see if it's something you would genuinely enjoy because you're gonna know quickly into the hours and experiences you have if something is for you or if it's not."