Torn ACLs, sprained ankles and tattered egos are all on the mend at CHS when Gail McClellan is on the job. Aside from a three year hiatus, McClellan has kept the Wolves healthy since 1987.
Upon graduating from CMU in 1986, McClellan spun what had been an internship with CHS into her life’s work.
‘I don’t think I would want to work at any other high school,? said McClellan.
Aside from her husband Bob, who she says is incredibly supportive, the Clarkston students gracing her training table are the love of her life.
‘There is a daily challenge that every child is taken care of,? said McClellan.
Gail is easy to approach and converse with on the sideline but her eyes continually haunt the players every movement in the field of play.
Even before an exclamation of pain pushes past the lips of an injured competitor Gail is in motion, first aid kit in hand, assessing and tending to the injury.
The 16-hour days during the summer do not bother McClellan. She knows that the kids need her. She knows that make-up games preclude her personal schedule. And she loves being there for the kids.
‘It’s not the big things. (I) don’t want the kids to bring me a dozen roses everyday,? said McClellan. ‘Its just the one ‘thank you? on Wednesday that means I made a difference.?
For the record, McClellan loves the bouqet of roses that the football team gave her this year.
Over the years, McClellan has cut out her own niche in Clarkston athletics. Aside from tending to the Wolves various maladies she diligently sets a strong moral example for the kids.
‘A lot of my job is not even the training aspect. Sometimes its nice for the kids to have an adult around they can trust,? said McClellan.
What makes the job easy for Gail is the support that the school and the athletic boosters give her.
‘The parents are really good here, the boosters are good and all of the coaches are good here,? said McClellan
Instead of having to juggle three events in a single evening, the boosters pay for trainers to assist McClellan.
‘You can’t be everywhere at once,? said McClellan. ‘A lot of schools will have football outside, girls basketball inside and soccer going on at once. and the trainer has to run from game to game.?
This year, the boosters have also purchased a $5,000 golf cart and a washing machine for the water bottles to aid McClellan’s efforts.
‘I spend every day from August to the middle of June with the kids,? said McClellan, and she is hard pressed to think of something else she would rather be doing.