March is one of the most exciting yet chaotic months of the school year for sports in addition to coincidentally being National Athletic Training Month. Looking around anywhere on campus you can find student-athletes participating in baseball, lacrosse, soccer, or track and field. With so many teams competing at once, injuries, sore muscles, and long recovery sessions become a daily reality. This is where the unsung heroes of North Atlanta’s athletic program step in—athletic trainers, specifically Andrea Davis and Demetre “Meat Sauce” Ledlum of North Atlanta, both employees of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Whether it’s for pre-practice tape or after-practice recovery, Andrea and Demetre are there for athletes. However, they do much more than make sure all Warrior athletes are healthy physically, they also look out for the mental health of all athletes.
The value of the two skilled trainers can’t even begin to be summarized or condensed into just their work for the month of March. Both Davis and Ledlum work year-round for North Atlanta athletics, meaning little to no rest in between each season and the sports that come along with it. Ledlum has been an athletic trainer with the Warriors for 3 years, playing a huge role in the recent success of the boy’s football team. Ledlum is extremely dedicated to his role as an athletic trainer, always making sure athletes are ready to go come game day. Whether it means staying after practice to help an athlete recover or arriving early in the morning to help an athlete complete their PT, Ledlum is there. “My favorite part of the job is seeing the athletes perform on big stages, I get to see their hard work pay off,” said Ledlum
Ledlum’s partner in crime, Andrea Davis is equally as talented and vital to the spirit of NAHS athletics. Davis is a new addition to the athletic training room as she took the job this August. Davis is known to always be smiling and appearing as a beacon of sunshine during her duties. According to the athletes of North Atlanta, Davis also regularly helps to increase their mental attributes outside of the physical aspect of sports. Her open ears and experienced background help all athletes prepare for any aspect of competition that they might need to thrive. My favorite part of the job is being able to watch athletes get back on the field after injury and get back to doing what they love,” said Davis.
Through the wear and tear of any given sport’s season, athletic trainers across the country prove to be the foundation of every great athletic department. This reigns especially true for North Atlanta’s own Andrea Davis and Demetre Ledlum. There is a new athletic culture in the halls of North Atlanta, and the contributions of the training department cannot be ignored in this revolution.
