First, I never wanted to be a Sports Massage Therapist and I still do not call myself that.  I am a Massage Therapist. I have had many classes of continuing education and lots of experience in Sports Massage but, that isn’t what I set out to do.  In fact, when I went to Massage School I avoided the schools that had an emphasis on Sports Massage.  It was several months later when I decided to give it a whirl.  What a whirl. I only did it because every time I talked to anyone outside of my school or my class they always asked me if I did Sports Massage.  I got the “you ain’t crap if you don’t do Sports Massage” mantra so much I actually believed it and signed up for a class at another school.

Silly me, I was so young and naïve.  I didn’t read all the writing on the enrollment agreement. It was a great class but, I was not prepared for the huge amount of clinical experience that was going to be required. I had a husband in the Navy, two little girls at home, I was working and going to Massage School.  Where in the world was I going to find the time to do 100 hours of volunteer Sports Massage?  I could have taken a class that was shorter or didn’t require that much clinical experience. Not me, I was not paying close attention to those details. The reluctance was settling in. I wasn’t going to throw in the towel yet though. I really liked the class. The people were nice. The instructor was very professional. I was learning some, although most of it I had already learned at Body Mind College, they just didn’t call it Sports Massage. I really believed this class was going to make a difference.

I set out to do my first volunteer clinical hours and signed up for the first thing on the list hanging on the bulletin board in the hall. The LA Marathon, no problem!                          <Insert Snorts & Laughter Here>

First I had to send in my registration packet. Yes in some states they actually make the Massage Therapists that are volunteering register for the race. Not a bad idea. I wish it would happen more often. This way they can see what training you have, if you are licensed, make certain you have malpractice insurance and if you are a student, who is responsible for you.

So the person that was “responsible for me” was quite professional, she had a curt, clipped way of communicating. I could handle that. What I didn’t handle well was that the first person that got on my table threw up. Yep, vomit all over my beautiful new dark blue massage table. Somehow they skipped the medical tent and got in the que and on my table without a massage ticket. That system wasn’t foolproof.  By the time I got that person medical attention, moved out of the massage area and had my table cleaned up to the satisfaction of my supervisor I was way behind. I wasn’t even going to get credit for that first hour because of the problem. This was going to take awhile!

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