In what could be described as an athletic trainer’s dream job, exercise science graduate Julyah Wilson ’22 interned this past summer with the New England Patriots, the NFL team that dazzled fans during the Brady-Belichick era, won a record six Super Bowl titles and continues to sell out every home game.
Wilson, a former Bronco track athlete, earned her master’s degree in May 2024 from the University of Nebraska Omaha, which holds two places each year in the graduate athletic training program for Hastings College students who meet admissions criteria.
The two-year program focuses on training techniques, orthopedic assessment and therapeutic interventions.
For one of her required clinical rotations, Wilson interned with the University of Alabama football team, an experience that planted the seeds for the Patriots’ offer.
“I did well at Alabama and built a great connection,” Wilson said. “One of the athletic trainers I worked with is now with the Patriots. He reached out to me and asked if I was interested in a paid summer internship. Of course, I said yes.”
Before heading east, Wilson passed her board of certification exam to become a certified athletic trainer.
This story originally appeared in the 2024 HC Today.
A summer at Gillette Stadium
The Patriots put Wilson up in an extended-stay hotel in Wrentham, about 10 minutes from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. Arriving at the stadium’s athletic training room at 6 a.m. each day, she treated rookie and veteran players for ankle injuries, quad strains, sore backs and other ailments and helped with stretching and hip mobility exercises.
After treatments, the players practiced on two different fields in the hot summer sun. Wilson and her colleagues swarmed like bees during breaks in the play to hand out water and Gatorade. After team meetings, she headed back to the athletic training room to treat more players.
The NFL experience didn’t intimidate Wilson, who also completed practicums with Bellevue West and Papillion LaVista High Schools in Nebraska, Iowa Western Community College and Creighton University’s women’s basketball team in Omaha. Working for the pros did require greater awareness and focus.
“NFL teams are way more fast paced. You have to keep your head more on a swivel than you would for a college or high school team. And there’s definitely more hands on deck, people on the staff. Earlier days, longer hours and different kinds of treatment strategies,” she said.
While interacting with players in the athletic training room, Wilson found them cordial and friendly. Her contacts included veteran players like safety Jabrill Peppers and defensive end Deatrich Wise and rookies like Marcellas Dial, a recruit from the University of South Carolina.
Wilson remained with the team until the “cut down date” in late August when NFL teams trim their preseason teams from 90 to 53.
Learning the fundamentals at HC
A number of factors contributed to Wilson’s decisions to major in exercise science and become an athletic trainer. As a high school athlete in Aurora, Colorado, she was injured and had shoulder surgery, an experience that piqued her interest in therapy and recovery. She was intrigued by an anatomy class her senior year.
“Those things just played together to make me want to be an athletic trainer,” she said.
Recruited as a sprinter on Hastings College’s track team, she qualified for nationals four consecutive years, was named All Conference and All American, and was GPAC champion in the 200m, 100m and 60m dashes. A dean’s list student, she was named to Who’s Who in 2022 in recognition of her contributions to the campus community.
Wilson counts among her inspirations Hastings College faculty Casey Molifua and Dr. Matthew Beeler from the Department of Physical Education and Human Performance, which offers the popular exercise science major. This academic year, exercise science is one of the largest majors on campus among returning, full-time undergraduates, second only to business administration.
“Beeler introduced me to the UNO Athletic Training Program. Casey was aware of what I wanted to do and helped me find the path to take. They both guided me on what to do next and were very helpful,” she said.
Wilson recently landed a job as assistant athletic trainer for women’s soccer and softball and men’s wrestling at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln.
“I can relate to athletes since I also competed in sports and had injuries,” she said. “Athletic trainers are people athletes can talk to outside of their coaches and parents. We’re people they can trust. I find that very fulfilling. The athletic training room is a healing place, mentally and physically.”
