GVSU graduate finds success with Iowa Women's Basketball

Players swarmed the court in celebration as the final buzzer sounded in the Iowa Hawkeyes 94-87 victory over the LSU Tigers in the Elite Eight matchup of the NCAA Women’s Basketball 比赛. Among the celebrating Hawkeyes at MVP 竞技场 in Albany, New York was Andrea Chilcote, ‘12, Iowa’s athletic trainer.

For Chilcote and the Iowa team, the win meant more than just punching a ticket to the Final Four, where they would defeat the UConn Huskies before falling to the South Carolina Gamecocks in 冠军赛. 这是对一个令人心碎的损失的报复 LSU在2023年的NCAA冠军赛中获胜. For Iowa's star guard Caitlin Clark, currently with the WNBA's Indiana Fever, it was a chance to cement her legacy as one of 史上最伟大的大学篮球运动员.

“这太有趣了. 获胜太有趣了，”奇尔科特说 said about the team’s performance against the Tigers. “只是工作 with the student athletes, they’re so competitive; I’m really 竞争太.”

克拉克就是这样一个学生运动员. 克拉克，很享受 prolific collegiate career at Iowa, breaking the all-time NCAA scoring record for either men’s or women’s basketball. Chilcote joined the training staff during Clark’s junior year where the two started to build a good relationship with one another.

“凯特琳是你见过的最有趣的人之一 meet,” Chilcote said, describing her relationship with Clark. “我们 和她的健康一起度过了一些难关. 这很好 对她有那种信任吗.”

奇尔科特的爱荷华之旅始于马斯基根. 她 always had a passion for sports, playing basketball, volleyball and 在里兹-帕弗高中打垒球. 对科学的兴趣 inspired Chilcote to pursue an education in physical therapy after high school, but once at Grand Valley she found athletic training to 成为合适的人选.

With its proximity to home and scholarships, GVSU was 这是她唯一认真考虑过的学校. 什么是容易的决定 这对奇尔科特来说是卓有成效的.

“大峡谷无疑拥有最好的运动训练 她说. “进入体育领域 training world now, I realized how well prepared I was to begin my career.”

Chilcote had the opportunity to work observation hours, getting experience at places such as Jenison High School. 那 experience justified her decision to pursue athletic training as her 对这一领域的热情也随之增长.

在2012年的高年级，奇尔科特患了 opportunity to work as an intern for the Chicago Cubs. 身临其境的 internship sent her to Phoenix to work during spring training and 菜鸟球. 的 experience introduced her to professional sports 和高水平的运动员一起工作.

After graduating from GVSU, Chilcote earned a master of sports administration degree from Eastern Illinois University, where she spent time as a graduate assistant athletic trainer for multiple sports.

Chilcote spent time working with multiple universities after graduation, two of which included Wayne State University and 中密歇根大学.

In the fall of 2022, Chilcote joined the University of Iowa staff as an assistant athletic trainer for the women’s 篮球队和高尔夫球队.

在她工作的两个季节里，奇尔科特看到了 Hawkeyes basketball team nearly as high as a team can reach, winning two Big Ten championships and making two NCAA championship appearances

“留住学生运动员需要做大量的工作 健康的. 但是，老实说，这很有趣。. "Working with the student athletes is an amazing experience. I couldn’t have even dreamed that my life would be this cool.”

奇尔科特工作的一个重要组成部分是建设 trust between herself and the athletes she works with. 对她来说, building that trust starts by being present for the athletes and having open and honest conversations with the athletes about 治疗方案.

“If they don’t feel like the treatment works, then you offer new options for treatment,  understanding that everyone is different and needs different things that make them feel seen and 听说了，”她说.

奇尔科特听取运动员的意见. 这不仅仅是博天堂官方网页 listening to their thoughts on treatment, but listening to their 对球场外生活的激情和关注. 她发现存在 present in those moments goes a long way toward building a sense of 安全与信任.

Chilcote has witnessed the growth in popularity women’s basketball has enjoyed over the past two years first hand. 她 recounts many instances of people telling her that Iowa is the 他们开始看女篮的原因. 这不是秘密 that Clark played a major role in drawing eyes to the sport.

After the Indiana Fever selected Clark with the first overall pick in the WNBA Draft, her jersey was sold out in most 在Fanatics网站上的尺寸.

整个联盟的WNBA球队都看到了门票销售 reach near sellout levels when Clark and the Fever come to town. 的 Washington Mystics moved their June 7 game against the Fever from their 4,200-seat stadium to the 20,000 plus-capacity Capital One 竞技场. 的 Las Vegas Aces followed suit, moving their July 2 game against Indiana to accommodate around 8,000 additional fans.

“When my mom was a kid growing up in middle school and high school, she wasn’t allowed to play basketball,” Chilcote said 看到了女子运动的发展. “的确如此 emotional seeing that when you do invest in women’s sports, like 任何事情，人们都会看. 他们正在证明这是真的.”