Catching Up With Emily Deskevich '22

12/11/2024

She could see the collision coming, and try as she might, there was no way she could get out of its path.

In an instant, it seemed, Emily Deskevich hit the Stanford Stadium turf, smothered momentarily by a fast-moving Cardinal running back a split second after the Virginia Tech defender knocked him off his feet near the sideline.

Did the impact hurt? Well, yeah!

Was the 2022 Collegiate graduate daunted?

Of course not.

“The players were coming full speed,” said Deskevich, a VT student athletic trainer. “I tried to get out of the way. I wasn’t fast enough. I had quite a few football players immediately at my side. One picked me back up off the ground. I was holding a carrier with six bottles which went flying when I hit the ground. One of the players picked up the bottles while I got myself resituated. It happened right at the end of the first half. In the second half, people were coming up to me making sure I was OK. I really appreciated the support.”

Emily suffered a bad bone bruise and slight fracture in the top of her left tibia when her knee hit the ground. She hobbled around on crutches for three weeks but still fulfilled her duties as best she could.

“I couldn’t imagine not being there,” she said. “It was a little inconvenient, but I just love what I do so much. I tried to be as involved as I could.”

Though that (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime experience wasn’t exactly what she envisioned when she joined Tech’s training staff her freshman year, the positives of her calling far outweigh the negatives, she says, because she’s playing a role that she dearly loves.

Emily is part of a crew that includes 13 student and five full-time athletic trainers for football, three sports medicine physicians, one orthopedic surgeon, and four orthopedic fellows. She estimates that her “work week” is about 30 hours, including eight hours on game day. She’s on duty for all home games, she’s made road trips to Syracuse, Miami, Vanderbilt, and, of course, Stanford, and she’ll be in Charlotte Jan. 3 when Tech plays Minnesota in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

One day recently, she spoke of her journey, which she hopes will lead to a career as a physician’s assistant that focuses on either orthopedics or sports medicine.

What inspired you to become an athletic trainer?

I’ve always been interested in the medical field. I worked in the training room my senior year at Collegiate with Coach (Shannon) Winston and Coach (Tara) Tate. They made sure everything was a learning opportunity, whether it was something as simple as how to use a modality or learning to tape an ankle. Having them take the time to really start at the bottom and show me everything and build my confidence definitely helped me. I came to Virginia Tech very comfortable in a training room setting.

What was the process for becoming an athletic trainer at Tech?

I got involved through my major (human nutrition, food, and exercise with a focus in exercise and health science), which requires you to do two credits of a field study. I did that by working in the training room and rotating with various sports for a semester. I ended up falling in love with the football program. I really like working with athletes because they have such a passion for what they do and because they’re always so dedicated and focused on what they need to do [to stay healthy and perform optimally]. I try to match their energy. I’ve also always been a sports fan, so I like combining my sports interest and medical interests.

What’s your responsibility on a non-game day?

I either go to the taping room and tape ankles, or I’ll be in the training room helping with pre-practice treatments, which is anything from guys just doing a hot pack to doing exercises and rehabing to using any of the therapeutic modalities that we have. I also help with the rehab protocol laid out by trainers or surgeons for guys who’ve had surgery or are post-injury.

After that, we set up for practice. Then, for practice, all 13 of us are assigned to different position groups. I’m with the running backs. I stay by their side, so if they come off the field, I’m there for whatever they need medically and hydration-wise. After practice, we take down and clean up. Sometimes, I go in and help cut tape off. I’ll sometimes sit in on doctor’s appointments that they have post-practice if it’s someone in my position group so I know the area of focus the next time they come in the training room.

And on Game Day?

We arrive four-and-a-half hours before kickoff and set up the locker room, taping room, and sideline. Then I either help tape ankles or anything else that needs taping. Then I head down to the stadium, and I’m with the running backs for their pre-game routine. I follow them along with my carrier full of six water bottles, towel, and pack just to make sure they have any last-minute things they need. For the games, I’m assigned to work the timeouts so I walk up and down the sideline, splitting the line of scrimmage with my co-timeouts partner. Any time the game stops and the players get in a huddle, I’m out there with water making sure everyone is hydrated because a big part of our sports medicine role is pushing hydration, especially on game day.

What’s fun about being an athletic trainer?

Because I give so much time to it, I’ve become so close to the people I work with. We’re always together. Some of them are my best friends at Virginia Tech. I love it for that reason. Because we’re assigned to position groups, I’m very close with the running backs and the running backs coach (Elijah Brooks) and even players on both sides of the ball that aren’t in my position group. I just love the environment of Virginia Tech football. It’s such a family. Virginia Tech football gives me most of my life at Blacksburg. I love that that’s how it is.

~Weldon Bradshaw

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