Q&A with Director of Sports Performance, Matt Price
Tell us about your family.
I have been married to Emerald Autrey Price since May 12th, 2018 and we have an 8 month old son, Holden Robertson Price. We also have two dogs, Aiden who is a 14 year old cocker spaniel and beagle mix and Rona who is a 5 year old Belgian Malinois mix.
What is your favorite thing to do in Birmingham?
We are foodies so we like to try out new restaurants. We also enjoy the outdoors so we like to go to Red Mountain, Oak Mountain and other recreational activities.
What drew you to a career in Athletic Training?
I actually started out in Electrical Engineering at The University of Alabama. I loved the engineering classes and labs but calculus II was my downfall so I looked for other careers and found athletic training, eventually. At that point, I had actually never heard of athletic training. I grew up in rural Alabama and we didn't have an athletic trainer at our high school. I met a friend from high school for lunch one day and they were telling me about their major which was athletic training. I went and met the program director to learn more and they made me an academic path to apply to the program. The application process was a year long with prerequisite classes, clinical rotations and then a final interview process that included a clinical skills lab. During that process I had clinical rotations at gymnastics, softball, and football. That is when I met Jeff Allen, who is now the Director of Sports Medicine and Head Football Athletic Trainer. While I was at football, I jumped at the opportunity to work with him on a rehab with an athlete and truly fell in love with the career and the passion that he brought to the job. To this day he is my mentor and we talk often about not only athletic training but life in general. Ever since then I have not only looked up to the way he practices athletic training but the way he cares for everyone around him.
You have been diligently working on Project Samson. Talk a little about what that will encompass and the difference it will make in Samford Athletics for years to come.
Project Samson really comes down to two things: collaboration and utilizing technology for our student athletes. Several departments on campus are part of this collaboration including Brock School of Business, Center for Data Analytics in Sports, College of Health Sciences and School of Public Health. Outside of Samford we are also collaborating with Andrews Sports Medicine and The American Sports Medicine Institute more than we already do on a daily basis. What is unique about Project Samson is not the technology or what we are doing with it because most programs that have the means will have the equipment and technology. The difference is the collaboration between the above entities, most universities work in silos and try to do it all by themselves and what we have realized is there there is a need to work together to have efficient outcomes. Each entity provides a unique perspective and skill set to the project so that we can utilize the equipment for injury prevention, better return from injury outcomes, improved overall performance, and data collection for longitudinal studies. On top of the athletic benefit that this provides it also provides an avenue for academic excellence for athletes to utilize in their career path in terms of research opportunities and more. The research component of this is to validate sports medicine approaches to prevent and treat injuries, meaning that we are able to validate the way we approach performance, rehab, surgery, and return to play progressions on all injuries. That is the vision of Project Samson in a nutshell.
What is the greatest comeback from an injury that you've seen while at Samford?
Personally I have been able to witness a variety of injuries and comebacks but there is one that really sticks out in my mind. In 2018 I was still the head football athletic trainer and we had an athlete go up to defend a pass, a play that he had done routinely in practice and games, but this one was different. When he came down and landed he actually broke both his fibula and tibia while also dislocating his ankle on one leg. We were able to take care of the situation, and get him in the ambulance to be transported to Andrews/St. Vincents within 5 minutes. From there he had several surgeries and months of rehab. He was very determined to return to the field in some capacity and we were able to work daily with him to reach his goal. After 12 months of doctor visits, rehab and physical therapy we were able to really begin his return to play progression which entailed learning how to run and jump again. After establishing that we were able to get him to return to cone drills, change of direction and ultimately mimic his individual drills from practice. Eventually, he was able to return to the practice field the following season. That particular athlete and injury was the most rewarding to be able to work with because of the many challenges that you are faced with along the way; the setbacks, the hours and hours of work to just be able to walk again and then ultimately be able to return to the sport that you love. That was a truly humbling experience from start to finish, it just meant a little more because it wasn't just getting them back to athletics but to everyday life as well.
What does a typical day in the athletic training room look like?
Typically an athletic trainer's day is first dictated by weight sessions, practice times, classes, travel, competitions and doctor appointments. After that is scheduled then an athletic trainer can plan and schedule rehabs/treatments for those athletes that need it. Obviously, there is always the unknown of when an injury is going to happen so you have to be prepared for a sudden change in you daily schedule and that is what keeps it interesting. Being able to juggle all of those on the calendar might actually be the toughest part of an athletic trainer's work load. But that pales in comparison to being a part of a program where your effort, time and energy are appreciated while working with athletes to either prevent injuries or to work on injures ands return them to competition. That is why we as athletic trainers do the job, to be able to say at the end of the day you did everything we could to help an athlete achieve their goal of returning to the sport they love. We also like to win and you can't win with your athletes on the sidelines.
Final Message from Matt:
"I can not overstate this enough, we truly can not do what we do without the generosity of our donors. It just is not possible. We see first hand the time, energy and sacrifice that our student-athletes put into not only their academics but also athletic performance. So it only stands to reason that we should invest in the best equipment possible to help them achieve their full potential in their athletic career."
