ORONO – The members of the University of Maine women’s basketball team are subjected to tremendous demands, both physical and psychological. Playing a long Division I season and training rigorously during the offseason invariably take a toll on their bodies and minds.

When the Black Bears need help overcoming injuries, or dealing with emotional issues, they know Sherrie Weeks is there for them.

Weeks, an assistant athletic trainer at UMaine, is in her seventh year working with the Bears. Her efforts have been instrumental in the team’s success.

“Sherrie is as important as any of my staff members,” said UMaine women’s basketball coach Sharon Versyp. “She is the best trainer I’ve ever had in all my years of coaching.”

Hands-on training

Weeks, a native of Mars Hill, enjoys the science of athletic training. She prides herself in recognizing and treating injuries. Her primary goal is to help players return to action as soon and as safely as possible.

While Weeks prefers to remain behind the scenes, she has been an inspiration to many UMaine athletes. Her daily routine in UMaine’s Kessock Sports Medicine Center includes taping some ankles, administering ice, heat packs, electrical stimulation, hydrotherapy, and ultrasound, and assisting players in stretching bothersome muscles.

“Without Sherrie, I don’t think anybody would be playing right now,” said sophomore Pam Cruz, who has undergone two knee surgeries since arriving at UMaine and has spent countless hours in the training room. “We consider her a big part of our team.”

Weeks, who earned an undergraduate degree from Castleton State College (Vt.) in 1989, also must re-evaluate the players who are dealing with chronic problems that require daily attention.

“With this sport, the season is so long, it’s the rare kid who doesn’t have a chronic something going on,” said Weeks, who was a 1,000-point scorer and played on two Class C state championship teams at Central Aroostook High. “It might not be enough to keep them out of anything, but it’s enough that we have to do something.”

When game time rolls around, Weeks’ work continues. While fans watch the game, she must focus on injured or recuperating players to see how they’re doing.

“You don’t watch a game to watch a game,” Weeks said. “If someone’s had a recent ankle sprain, you watch how they’re moving on the court.”

In Sherrie We Trust

Weeks and Versyp chuckle when recalling their first encounter. It came during a breakfast meeting when Versyp was interviewing for the UMaine job.

Versyp tested Weeks by asking her what would happen if a player was injured and was hobbled but was badly needed for the next game. “I’d tell you if she could play or not,” Weeks said.

While there was some initial tension between the two, they have developed a great working relationship.

“You can say we banged heads on the first meeting,” Versyp laughed. “I have so much respect for her and what she has done for us and the profession.”

Weeks and Versyp generally speak once a day about any potential injury problems.

“I totally trust her,” Versyp said. “She knows their bodies better than I do. We’re really in tune with one another and I think that’s a big key. She’s a great friend and an incredible colleague.”

Weeks said an important aspect of her job is explaining the injuries to the athletes so they understand their condition.

“We try to empower them as much as we can so that they get to know their own body,” Weeks said. “You’re doing an assessment on an athlete, but you’ve got to think of that athlete as a person, too, and let them know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.”

The UMaine players are eager to accept Weeks’ recommendations about how to deal with whatever physical problems arise.

“She’s an amazing person,” said junior captain Ellen Geraghty. “She’s a woman who’s dedicated to her job, her athletes, her faith, and who combines all of those things into helping us understand our own bodies and how to be better basketball players.”

People who need people

Much as a doctor with a good bedside manner earns a patient’s trust, an athletic trainer must be able to complement knowledge of anatomy and injuries with patience and understanding.

“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to be an athletic trainer. It’s 90 percent peopling skills, 10 percent athletic training,” Weeks said, quoting Joe Gieck, a former mentor at the University of Virginia, where she attended graduate school.

“Once you know the kids and you know what’s going on inside them and what’s going on outside of the sport, it’s so much easier to treat what is actually going on with them,” Weeks said.

There’s a rule in the training room: “What is said here, stays here.” The student-athletes know they can talk to Weeks about anything without fear of judgment or repercussions.

“She really looks out for us,” said senior captain Tracy Guerrette. “She is not only our trainer, but is a really good friend to a lot of us. She’s somebody we can confide in.”

Weeks is adept at picking up on otherwise unseen problems. Sometimes she senses it a person’s mood. Other times, a player might tell her about a teammate who is struggling emotionally.

“We’re usually the biggest ‘Switzerland’ for them,” Weeks said of the training staff. “We get no gains for them telling us anything, so you find they’re very willing to talk about other things because we’re a good sounding board for them.”

Weeks said she learned a great deal about how to deal with student-athletes from former UMaine trainer Wes Jordan, for whom the university’s Wes Jordan Athletic Training Education Complex will be named.

“He brought Maine athletic trainers to the forefront in the nation,” said Weeks, who worked with Jordan for two years.

“He was a wonderful athletic trainer, his skills were superb, but he excelled with peopling skills, with the athletes, with the coaches, and with us on the staff,” said Weeks, who has put some of those skills to work.

In four years at UMaine, Geraghty has missed the better part of two seasons because of illness and injuries. It was Weeks who helped her get through some difficult emotional times.

“I was starting to question whether I was cut out to stay at Maine,” Geraghty said. “She made me understand there’s more to life than basketball.”

Weeks also draws strength from her religious beliefs and tries to incorporate those lessons in dealing with the players.

“Ultimately, what’s No. 1 in my life, and what she’s helped me put first in my life, is my faith,” Geraghty said.

In spite of her compassionate nature, Weeks doesn’t “baby” the injured Black Bears.

“There was a point in time where I was feeling sorry for myself and she said, ‘do you want to play?’ I said yeah and she said, ‘get your butt in gear,'” Cruz said. “She’s a very blunt and honest person and that’s what I like about her.”

Weeks has a knack for knowing what kind of motivation or support the players need.

“You either let them cry or you tell them to suck it up. It depends on the moment,” Weeks said.

Building a training program

Weeks, who was hired at UMaine as part of the gender equity push in 1995, thoroughly enjoys her position as an athletic trainer. However, she also has been spending a lot of time in her role as an instructor in the Kinesiology and Physical Education Department of the College of Education and as the curriculum coordinator of UMaine’s athletic training program.

Weeks, who has an office in Lengyel Hall, teaches classes on athletic injuries, organization administration in athletic training, rehabilitation, and modalities. A couple of the UMaine basketball players take the injuries class.

“The more I do it, the more I enjoy it,” Weeks said. “I think it’s a fun challenge because it’s making me a better clinician, but it’s also fun to watch a student when they get [a concept].”

Weeks credited Jordan and UMaine athletic medicine coordinator Dick Young with initiating athletic training classes at UMaine. While she enjoys working with women’s basketball, Weeks has devoted considerable time developing the curriculum for UMaine’s athletic training education program.

“My co-workers have been wonderful this season,” Weeks said. “[Assistant trainer] Ellise Spaulding has stood in for some of my classes. People have stepped up and helped out so much that it has made it workable.”

Weeks explained UMaine’s program is a candidate to become accredited by the Commission on Accrediting Allied Health Education Programs while it formalizes its class offerings within the major. Under a mandate from the National Athletic Trainers Association, the school hopes to make the transition from its current internship status by 2004.

Weeks is thrilled to be part of a growing athletic training program and to be working with UMaine student-athletes.

“God put me here for a reason and I think I respond to them pretty well,” Weeks said. “I really enjoy working with that age group.”

Geraghty summed up the UMaine players’ feelings about Weeks’ contributions.

“If everybody could take from the University of Maine a little bit of what she’s taught us, we’ll definitely be better people for it.”