Jason Abels: Budgeting For Training Equipment

Jason Abels, Head Trainer

Each spring, Arrowhead trainer Jason Abels provides a yearly athletic training budget to activities director Kevin Flegner.

“He’s been great to work with when I explain what we’d like to have in the way of new equipment,” Abels says. “Arrowhead is always looking for the best and most cost-effective equipment for its athletes, which is not the case with all schools and shrinking athletic budgets.”

An example of how Abels evaluates a need for new equipment from both medical and dollar standpoints occurred several years ago with two small-capacity ice cube machines in the training room. There was a need for a large-capacity ice machine to keep up with all the treatment needs.

Before making a purchasing recommendation, Abels analyzed the pros and cons of using cube, crushed and nugget forms of ice in addition to machine capacity.

“We previously had crushed ice machines,” he says. “But when you add crushed ice to a water cooler, it melts right away and the children just keep adding more crushed ice or it ends up being one big piece of hard ice.

“So now we’ve got a bigger capacity nugget ice machine. This is a type of ice that is more conforming to injuries since cubes don’t conform very well to an injury.”

In recent years, Abels added a large hydrocollator that offers a much-needed moist heat pack for treating injuries. And they’re budgeting this year for another golf cart, which is necessary to get supplies from one event to another in a timely fashion.

“When there’s a need, they figure out a way to get it done,” adds Abels.