BOWIE, Md. - Throughout the Fall 2020 semester, the Bowie State University Department of Athletics will spotlight one student-athlete or administrator in wake of COVID-19 pandemic that forced CIAA to suspend fall competition until the spring of 2021. This week's spotlight will feature the university's Head Athletic Trainer, Teresa Gruchacz.

As a freshman at Penn State University, Gruchacz's major was chemistry, a subject she fell in love with at Roxbury High School in Ledgewood, New Jersey. Labs were her favorite. She loved doing all of the experiments. It was always interesting to her how different chemicals reacted and why they did. She also was enrolled in small chemistry class of 13 students, which helped her receive a lot of attention from her teacher. However, when she got to college, that privilege changed.

Now, Gruchacz was enrolled in a chemistry class of 400 total students, which made it difficult to get in touch with her professor as often as she wanted to, because of the number of students in the class. That only made the situation worse for Gruchacz because the material was already difficult for her to study. So, one day, she decided to sit down with her advisor and launch the process of finding another major.
"So, I sat down with the program guide and read through just about every single science major at Penn State, Gruchacz said. "Kinesiology was the thing that stood out—which is what I majored in—and athletic training was one of the options that they offered. And based on my first year as a chemistry major, I didn't do very well. My grades weren't very good. So, pursuing the athlete training degree at Penn State was going to be very difficult because I would have had to increase my GPA to even be considered for the program.

So, I just focused on a general kinesiology degree and I focused on getting my grades up, so I could apply for a master's program in athletic training. I applied for a few and got into my top choice: Seton Hall."
Gruchacz always knew she wanted to get into higher-level sports, whether it be collegiate or professional. After she graduated from Penn State in 2010 and then Seton Hall in 2012, she started as the Athletic Trainer at Hammond High School in Columbia, Maryland, and was fortunate enough—after a few years—to receive an opportunity in professional baseball. After her second year on the job, Gruchacz felt ready to move on. One day, while searching the web of Google, she noticed that Bowie State University was in search of a head athletic trainer, and instantly became intrigued. So, she quickly applied and was then chosen for the position.

Four years later, after hiring her, Bowie State University Vice President of Athletics & Recreation, Clyde Doughty Jr., raved about the impact Gruchacz has made in managing the athletic training program.
"Teresa has improved the efficiency of the athletic training department with great emphasis on how student-athletes receive medical care," he said. "She is a hard working individual who works diligently with the coaches and administration to ensure that the safety and wellness of our student-athletes remains our number one priority.  During this unprecedented time of COVID-19; she has worked diligently with the COVID-19 taskforce to ensure that we are compliant with all protocols to ensure the safety and welfare of all participants within the department of intercollegiate athletics and recreation."

During a phone interview, Gruchacz discussed what she loves about being an Athletic Trainer, the challenges the job presents, and more.

What do you love most about being a trainer?
I love being able to help. The athletes are so great, especially at Bowie State. They are just looking for someone to help them when they get injured. And that's what I really love about being an athletic trainer: being able to help them and see their reactions, when they get better and their injury is no longer a problem. And the athletes are so grateful for you to help them overcome that injury. That's the best thing.

What are the challenging parts of the job?
It's long hours and lots of work. We are there, a majority of the day, for 10 hours on the weekends, holidays, early mornings, and late nights. So it's a lot of time that you have to put into being an athletic trainer. That's probably the most challenging part about it. But, as I said, it's worth it.

For inspiring athletic trainers what would your advice be to them?
To just love every minute of learning the profession. It is something you might think is too hard because you have to learn a lot of sciences. And you might think that it requires too many hours. But the reward outweighs all of that. Working with these athletes is something that you're going to start to love, and you'll never stop loving it. So, just kind of push through. I know it's a lot of work, but it's going to be very rewarding in the end.

What's the worst injury you've witnessed as a trainer?
When I was at Hammond High School, I had a basketball player trying out for track that particular year. And he came into the athletic training room during track tryouts and said his foot was numb. It had been raining and was cold outside. And the bottom of his foot and toes were white. So it seemed like he had a circulation problem in his foot. So, once he was sitting in the athletic training room for a few minutes, the color returned to his foot. Then after he said he felt okay and that it didn't feel numb anymore, he asked if he could go ahead and practice.

I said, of course, but if this happens again, there's going to be a doctor's appointment in your future because there's a circulation issue, and we have to figure out what it is. Two days later, he was on crutches with his foot all wrapped up. So I asked him what happened. He said, Teresa, the pain in my foot was bad, I had to go to the doctor and he said I sprained my foot. Now, that was the first doctor. He actually saw four more doctors before they figured out what was actually wrong with him. He wound up with blood clots in his leg and he had to get his foot amputated.

That's something I will always remember and will always look back on; in hopes of learning from that. I guess that's not technically an injury, but it's definitely my worst experience.

How has your experience at Bowie State been so far?
It's been really good. When I first got there, it was a lot of work, with just the two of us trainers [myself and Caitlyn]. But it's still good when you're being able to work in the environment that you want to be in—that's always a good thing. And then last year, we were able to add a third athletic trainer.

So there's a big difference between having two trainers and three trainers?
Oh, huge difference. It's almost night and day, having two versus three trainers. There are 13 sports, 250 to 300 athletes, and two people have to split all of that. Now, when we have, let's say, a football game, a softball game, a volleyball game, and a cross country match all happening simultaneously—whether it's home or away—it takes more than two people to cover all that. And, now, we have three people to cover a whole bunch of things.

 I remember when we had a spring football game, a tennis match, a softball game, and an outdoor track and field event all going on at the same time. And there were only two of us trainers. It was challenging because one person had to be on the football field the entire time, which meant the other person had to run between the four other sporting events occurring. So having a third person completely eliminates the stress of that.

What do you like to do in your downtime? Do you watch sports?
I do. I love watching sports, even though I'm around sports all the time. It's something that's in my blood, so I absolutely watch sports in my downtime. I also read a lot. I enjoy reading fiction books and like to escape the world for a few minutes with a book. I work out a lot too. And if I'm not doing those things, I'm probably hanging out with my friends or family.

Do you have a favorite book?
I'm a huge Stephen King fan. I love Stephen King books. I've read so many of his books. They're all really good. The Shining is one of my favorite books; it's a good one.

Final Question: How do you want your legacy to be as a head trainer when you finish?
Oh, gosh, that's a hard question. I guess I want to be remembered as someone who helped every person who came into the athletic training room, no matter who you are and even if you didn't play a sport. ROTC and the cheerleading band comes in all the time. So, yeah, just someone who helped the athletes the best way I could—when they needed it—to get them back on the field, court, or whatever platform.