POULSBO — When NKHS student trainer Jessica Monzingo works during a North Kitsap High School sporting event, she does whatever she can to prepare Viking athletes to prevent injuries.

But should injuries occur, she’s ready to provide a variety of treatments on the spot to help athletes get back in the game, if possible.

“We work with the sports teams to make sure they’re doing what they can to prevent injuries,” Monzingo said. “But if they do injure themselves, we’re there to get them proper treatment.”

The senior, one of the most experienced trainers at the school, is part of a growing program at NKHS that now includes 26 students, the largest group in its history.

And there’s good reason for the upswing.

Combine a devoted faculty, well-trained and energetic student staff and brand new facility — and you’ve got a recipe for a great athletic medicine program.

“We’re set up better than a Division III college,” said Julie Leslie, assistant athletic trainer at NKHS. “For a high school, it’s unbelievable.”

For starters, head trainer and North Kitsap High School athletic medicine teacher Chris Franklin has been fine-tuning and growing the program since he came to Poulsbo 10 years ago.

Franklin’s first training office was what he called “a custodial closet,” that was only 400 square feet of space with two training tables. He said that thanks to help from coaches and administrators during his 10 years, the program has been allowed to flourish.

“They allow us to do our jobs,” Franklin said.

That custodial closet he started in has become a state-of-the-art training facility at North, a revamp of which was funded through last year’s gymnasium remodel from 2001’s voter-approved bond.

The training room includes two ultrasound machines and electrical stimulation machines, three whirlpools of various sizes, a paraffin therapy bath, two hydrocollators and even a automatic external defibrillator (AED) for home games and football away games. Each device provides some kind of rehabilitation therapy for athletes on the mend.

But it’s the student trainers who have gained career experience by using each of the devices, as well as receiving the education necessary to help Franklin and Leslie to treat athletes.

“The student trainers are the backbone of this program,” Franklin said. “When kids get injured, it’s the lowest part of their season. Student trainers keep the attitudes of those athletes up. They do an excellent job.”

Franklin isn’t the only one who offers praise for the student trainers — many of North’s coaches do as well. The word that retiring football coach Jerry Parrish chose to use when speaking of the trainers?

“Outstanding,” Parrish said. “It’s a very comprehensive program.”

The 32-year North Kitsap coach added that the trainers were “a breath of fresh air,” in aiding his gridders.

“They know what they’re supposed to be doing and they get it done,” he said. “Very thorough.”

The student trainers are taught to use each device, including the AED, which can help resuscitate athletes who may have fallen into cardiac arrest. That means the trainers could be confronted with a life-or-death situation, but Leslie said she’s confident they are trained to deal with each assignment.

“They focus on professionalism,” Leslie said. “They act the part and they dress the part. But they also stay within the limits of what they’re educated on.”

The program is not only a class — though Franklin does teach three each day at the school — but also an extracurricular activity (athletes who work 1,000 hours as trainers receive varsity letters) and an internship all rolled into one.

“They can use this (program) as a stepping stone,” Leslie said. “It gives them more of an advantage in college.”

Each athletic trainer at games has a fanny pack loaded with all sorts of treatment equipment: Band-Aids, gauze, tongue depressors, Q-tips, antibiotic ointment, gloves, CPR masks and pre-wrap to name a few.

The trainers come in one hour before daily practices and two hours before all games and competitions to help athletes. They also stay about a half hour following practice and games.

“They put in a lot of time that the parents and coaches don’t see,” said Leslie, who works at BodyLink in Poulsbo as a physical therapist before heading to the high school after school. “They do this because they want to (be trainers) in the future.”

“My goal is for students to have a foundation in athletic medicine,” Franklin said. “If they want to go into a health or human services or medical profession, they can choose whatever avenue they want in life.”

Many of the trainers said that a career in athletic medicine was indeed the path they were on.

“I plan on going to college and becoming a certified medical trainer,” senior trainer Monzingo said. “It’s completely absorbed my life.”

Monzingo got her start in training before the ninth grade, when she took a class at West Sound Technical Skills Center in athletic medicine. But it wasn’t until her junior year when she took Franklin’s class that she got involved with athletic training at the high school.

“Since I was little I wanted to be a nurse, but I have a problem with needles,” she said.

“I’ve just always had an interest in sports and sports medicine,” added Chris Williams, who is in his third year in the program as a trainer. “I’ve always enjoyed sports and watching sports. Especially watching the people I know compete.”

Senior Emily Rice had an ankle injury in ninth grade while participating in gymnastics and started to wonder about being a trainer during her rehabilitation.

“I love being around the athletes and I love sports medicine,” Rice said. “It’s getting hands-on experience now.”

Rice, too, said she wants to go into the sports medicine and physical therapy field.

“I probably wouldn’t know what direction I would want to go in without this,” Rice said.