While many of Harding’s students were busy relaxing and traveling this summer, senior athletic training major Justin Kutter had the internship of a lifetime. He landed a position with the Kansas City Chiefs as an athletic trainer for all of their preseason training.
Kutter was placed in a leadership role to provide guidance to the rest of the student athletic trainers who were packing and helped the team move to and from St. Joseph, Mo., for preseason camp.
A large part of Kutter’s experience included stretching and taping athletes. Kutter said that new players came to him and the other trainers quite frequently, but that veteran players knew when pain or soreness was serious and when it was not, and did not spend as much time with the trainers.
In addition to taping and stretching, some of Kutter’s other responsibilities included setting up equipment for practices and games as well as participating in hands-on therapeutic exercises and modalities, such as physical therapy.
While most of his experience was pertinent to his specific field of study, getting to know the players, however, was a highlight for him.
“Getting to know all of them on a personal level and being involved with them from day to day was pretty cool,” Kutter said.
Although Kutter missed the first two weeks of school, he said the experience gained through this internship will be invaluable for him in the future.
Jimmy Ntelekos, assistant athletic trainer for the Kansas City Chiefs, said he enjoyed having Kutter work with their team during the summer.
“Justin was a pleasure to work with,” Ntelekos said. “I would recommend him for a seasonal position if possible in the future.”
Dr. Randy Lambeth, athletic training education program director for Harding, said he was very proud Kutter excelled during his time with the Chiefs.
“They praised his work and felt like he was one of the best,” Lambeth said. “He’s talked about the opportunity to go back and I don’t know whether he will or not, but it’s exciting for them to be interested in talking to him about coming back and working with them.”
The athletic training program at Harding is extremely competitive and only accepts eight students per year. Acceptance is based upon students’ GPA, recommendation letters and a formal interview process, among other requirements.
“I think it’s a very good reflection on the program,” Lambeth said. “Not only did [Kutter] get asked to go, but once he got there he performed extremely well.”
