Athletic Trainer Jeremy Loew talks career and time at LC

By Casey Pickard

Before and after practice, student athletes can be found in the Athletic Training Room for help with everything from physical rehabilitation after surgery to massages for shin splints. The Athletic Training Room is run by three main staff members who seek to accommodate the needs of all students.

Jeremy Loew ’95 works at Lewis & Clark as the Associate Head Athletic Trainer for the athletic training department, working with anywhere from 15 to 100 student athletes every day.

“In the morning we usually open up anytime between 6:30 and 9,” Loew said. “We try to reserve mornings for ongoing rehab or if something has come up recently … and that’s our time as well to do paper work and get caught up on some of our other duties assigned.”

The trainers close their doors for one to two hours during lunch. During this time, they work out and catch up on paperwork, meetings or work on various LC committees. Loew is involved in the Hall of Fame Committee, the Student Health Advisory Board and the Eating Disorder Management Group.

At 1:30 p.m., the trainers open their doors again and keep the training room accessible until closing, usually between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. depending on team practices.

“We try to stagger our schedules so that nobody gets hammered too bad,” Loew said. “We try to schedule it so that this time of year no one is getting more than about one night a week.”

Loew played baseball throughout high school and during his time as an LC student, where he studied as a Communications major, now known as Rhetoric and Media Studies.

After playing for the Pios, Loew realized that athletic training was his preferred avenue for working in athletics.

“It was a way for me to be connected to athletics and work with athletes without coaching, without being an administrator,” Loew explained. “I wanted to be involved in professional baseball and this was a way I thought I could do that.”

Once he graduated from LC, Loew continued to live in Portland where he worked for the Trail Blazers. He later worked for the Texas Rangers and the Oakland Athletics. Shortly after, he moved to Corvallis for two years before returning to Portland to work for the LC athletic training department.

As far as managing the department goes, Loew explained that all three trainers (himself, Tara Boatman and Mark Pietrok) oversee all LC athletes and share the load of work equally.

“Tara will typically oversee all of the rehab cases,” Loew said. “Anybody that’s injured, has had surgery, is missing time, anybody that’s setting up a protocol routes through her desk.”

Boatman also handles inventory and ordering while Loew manages insurance, medical billing and standard tasks like rewriting LC’s concussion protocol.

“Mike’s number one, he’s been here almost 30 years,” Loew said. “He has to make the final decision on things as they come up, and he’s accountable for where all our budget money goes and things like that.”

Of all the facilities he’s worked at, Loew prefers the work environment at LC, explaining that the college supports the mission of athletic trainers to promote the health of athletes. Furthermore, he enjoys the student athletes he gets to work with every day.

“Yesterday I saw baseball players, basketball players, soccer players, rowers and tennis players. All in one day,” Loew said. “Every day you get talking to somebody and they tell you something that’s fascinating. Whether it’s something they’re doing in school or something they’re interested in off-campus or what they’re going to do for the summer.”

One of his favorite aspects of being an athletic trainer is being a part of the competitions, whether it’s upstairs in the gym or standing in the rain on the soccer field. He is especially looking forward to spending the weekend in the sun with the baseball team.

“I can have my family around here, my kids high-five the athletes,” Loew said. “They’re just part of the community here. The way this college is set up really embraces family. Every day is a little different and I like it that way.”