Lincoln Academy athletic trainer Megan Day stands in front of her office door in Newcastle. Day joined the school full time in fall 2015. (Paula Roberts photo)
From working with Lincoln Academy athletes to scaling Maine’s highest peaks, the adventurous Megan Day has happily found her niche in life.
Megan Day was born in North Carolina. In second grade her family packed up and left the Tar Heel State and moved to Richmond, Maine. Richmond was a jock town, and Day blossomed in the sports atmosphere of the community. In high school, she played basketball, soccer, and ran the 400m, 800m, and mile run in outdoor track.
“I always loved to compete,” said Day, who started playing sports at the age of 4.
After high school she attended the University of New England – Biddeford. Originally Day thought she wanted to be a pharmacist, because she liked math and science.
“I job shadowed and found out it was not for me. I thought I was a little too competitive for it,” Day said of the sedentary job that would have boxed her up inside a building.
She switched her focus from pharmacy to athletic training.
“I fell in love with it,” she said of athletic training, which has allowed her to be around athletes and sports and – for two seasons – to enjoy the outdoors.
After graduating in 2014 with a B.A. in athletic training, Day got a job right away at Lincoln Academy, through a P.T. clinic. David Sturdevant, the head of school at the time, and Athletic Director K.J. Anastasio “saw value in the position,” she said, and offered Day a full-time job in the fall of 2015. Day was the first athletic trainer at Lincoln Academy, and has developed her own program.
In addition to evaluating and working with athletes, Day teaches fitness and weight training as well as a save-a-life class, which involves getting students certified in CPR, first aid, and using an automated external defibrillator, or AED.
Far from a 9-to-5 job, Day’s work typically includes teaching in the afternoon until the final bell rings, then shifting into her athletic training duties. She covers all practices and home games. The scope of her job ranges from prevention, clinical evaluation, treatment of injuries, taping, bracing, and manual therapy. She also works with athletes to rehabilitate their injuries.
Day said athletic trainers are often mistaken as personal trainers.
“Athletic trainers are health care professionals,” she said. “You have to graduate with over 1,000 hours of clinical, pass a board certification exam, and have to be licensed by the state of Maine.”
Every two years athletic trainers have to renew their cardiac care and take continuing education classes.
Part of Day’s duties includes assessing injuries on the field or court. Some of the worst injuries she has seen include a tib-fib fracture, femur fractures, dislocated joints, and serious concussions.
Lincoln Academy athletic trainer Megan Day evaluates Tyson Ball’s knee during halftime. (Paula Roberts photo)
Prevention of injuries and recovering from injuries are big parts of Day’s job. Different coaches at LA have used her in a variety of roles, including recovery workouts and stretching days. She works with athletes on agility, foot speed, and quickness as well as arm care rehabilitation in throwing sports.
Day also works in tandem with the school’s nurses, including current nurse Kerri Ferrante, and former nurses Eric Duffy and Ricki Waltz.
While she is serious about her job, Day almost always has a smile on her face.
“I get to work with athletes. I see athletes on their best days, where I get to congratulate them on their accomplishments, and I see them on their worst days, when I have to tell them they have a season ending injury. Then I am a cheerleader when I see them return,” she said.
Over the past 10 years, Day has found her career to be a perfect fit.
“I love to watch sports,” she said. “I love to keep busy. I love watching our athletes and see what they are capable of and watching them push themselves to the limit. It is incredible to see what they can do. Some go from not being able to do a pushup to breaking school records.”
She also sees herself as another adult mentor for kids.
“After all these years, my athletes are like my own kids. A good day is when an athletic trainer gets to watch sports. That is a good day for athletes, because it means nobody is getting hurt,” she said. “It is pretty cool, I have had some students look into (athletic training), and some have gone to college for it. It is good to see that I have passed it on to future generation.”
When she is not working, Day loves to scale Maine’s tallest peaks. She has climbed 12 of Maine’s 4,000 footers. Saddleback and Mt. Abraham are next up on her quest to climb all 14 of the state’s highest peaks.
Day and her husband, Matt, live in Nobleboro.
“We are always looking for the next adventure,” she said.
(Do you have a suggestion for a “Characters of the County” subject? Email info@lcnme.com with the subject line “Characters of the County” with the name and contact information of your nominee.)
Since earning her B.A. from University of New England Biddeford in 2014, Megan Day, of Nobleboro, has been working at Lincoln Academy as the school’s athletic trainer. In addition to covering practices and home games, Day teaches fitness and weight training (Paula Roberts photo)
