WITH HIS OWN EYES, SCOTT MCCLATCHY HAS WATCHED AS “LITTLE WILLIS” HAS GROWN UP OVER THE YEARS.
The Willis ISD head athletic trainer, who graduated from Texas A&M in 1994 and moved to Willis shortly after in 1997, has never left.
McClatchy’s two daughters, Madison and Lauren, grew up in the community and graduated from Willis High School in 2016 and 2019, respectively. They both were cheer captains for the Wildkats. Finally, his wife Melissa currently serves as an Assistant Principal at Meador Elementary School in Willis ISD.
Over their 25 years in Willis, McClatchy has watched the area boom, growing from a Class 4A program to now competing feature \\ By Joshua Koch WILLIS ISD SHOWS INVESTMENT INTO STUDENT ATHLETIC TRAINER PROGRAM GOING ALL-IN Cole Arnold in Class 6A athletics – the UIL’s highest classification.
With the boom in numbers, they needed to grow their facilities with it. One of those was the athletic training room, which when McClatchy came back four years ago, was still a 960-square-foot room – not big enough for their program.
“The architect came up with a good gameplan where we could tear down some walls and revamp some existing space. That allowed us to create a nice, big, open facility to take care of our athletes in a more effective manner,” McClatchy said.
The plan ended up expanding the training room from those 960-square-feet to 2,500-square-feet.
A much larger wet room space with cold tub therapy machines, larger space for more rehab machines, more treatment tables, taping areas and a locker room for the student athletic trainers were just some of the upgrades included in the remodel.
“The facility is beautiful, but it is the functionality of the facility that is most impressive,” McClatchy said.
It is McClatchy and Houston Methodist Outreach Athletic Trainers Jordan Gonzales, MS, LAT, ATC and Jordan Terrell, MS, LAT, ATC, who call this facility home.
Here they take care of Willis High School athletes and at the same time teach student-athletic trainers, who play a vital role throughout the year.
McClatchy said they average between 18 to 20 students per year in the program but have carried as many as 24 in a year.
“Our student-athletic training program here has always been a strong one,” McClatchy said. “We’re carrying on that tradition. We have a few more kids than we used to, obviously. It’s a great program and one that the community sees as beneficial. The district, coaches and athletes love having the students around and they do a great job.
“These kids are some of the best in the building. They make the best grades, have the best discipline and they’re always here. These kids are awesome.”
It is not required for students to be seeking a career in the medical field to participate, but it can “help you get to where you want to be by providing an opportunity to be in this program”.
Many of their graduates do pursue a career in the medical field, but McClatchy said the lessons learned in their program outside of medical knowledge is what they will carry on forever.
“There’s opportunity to learn about life in general when you come into this program,” McClatchy said. “Responsibility, leadership, teamwork. All those things you have to come together and learn how to do. Obviously, we are going to teach them CPR, basic first aid, how to handle certain situations when working with teens."
“But the biggest thing they get out of this is what it takes to be a part of a group. So, when they get out of high school, they have learned to work with other people and make decisions to move a program forward in a positive way.”
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