Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist is proud to serve as The Official Health Care Provider of more than 100 schools, offering expert Team Doctors and Athletic Trainers for your school in Forsyth, Guilford, Yadkin, Davidson and Wilkes counties.
Our mission is to keep your student-athlete and our community healthy, safe and injury-free. Each month, we will be spotlighting some of our dedicated Team Doctors and Athletic Trainers and share tips and exciting news in the world of sports medicine and high school athletics.
For student-athletes, playing sports is more than competition - it’s about identity, community and personal growth. So when injuries or other challenges arise, the mental toll can be just as tough as the physical one.
That’s why every athletic trainer at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist is trained in “Youth Mental Health First Aid” (YMHFA) - a training course to better support their athletes when life gets hard.
Linsey Ciccocioppo, an athletic trainer at West Forsyth High School in Clemmons, explains how this training allows her to be more than just a healthcare provider - it helps her be a mentor and advocate for her athletes’ overall well-being.
Finding Purpose Through Adversity
Linsey Ciccocioppo knows firsthand the highs and lows of being an athlete. Throughout high school, she played basketball without the support of a team athletic trainer, a resource she now recognizes could have made a world of difference for her and her teammates. That experience sparked a dream of becoming a physical therapist for athletes.
Her path took a slight turn when she earned a basketball scholarship to East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania. There, many of her teammates were studying Athletic Training, a field she hadn’t considered. After spending significant time in the training room due to multiple injuries her first year, she realized Athletic Training was exactly where she belonged.
"Once I understood the profession up close, I knew it was exactly what I wanted to do," she shares.
However, those same injuries that helped shape her career also kept her sidelined during important tournaments, making her feel disconnected from her team.
"Staying home while my teammates traveled really separated me from building those early friendships," she recalls.
This setback empowered her with the empathy she would one day need in her role as an athletic trainer at West Forsyth High School, where she supports her athletes through every challenge - both physical, and emotional.
"I truly love my job," Linsey says. "I understand where they’re coming from, the difference between true injuries and muscle soreness, and just as importantly, how to help them navigate their worries."
Trust Through Building Relationships
Linsey Ciccocioppo says her job as an athletic trainer begins with trust.
"We build really close connections with our athletes," Linsey shares. "We’re often the first people they open up to. They feel protected and know we have their best interests at heart."
These trusted relationships allow trainers like Linsey to have conversations athletes might avoid with parents or school counselors. They can tackle sensitive issues like anxiety or depression before things get worse.
Through YMHFA training, Linsey and her team learned how to spot warning signs of mental health struggles - things like changes in behavior during injury rehab or falling behind in school. And since the trainers see athletes every day, this makes them uniquely positioned to notice signs others might miss, especially after season-ending injuries.
"If we notice an athlete isn’t improving or seems stuck, we’re trained to dig deeper and figure out what might be going on," she explains. “And when they suffer a season-ending injury, we help them understand that while this injury feels like the end, it could be the start of something new."
Tackling the Big Issues
Linsey says the YMHFA training focuses on making athletes feel safe and supported.
"We remind them they’re in a safe place and that nobody will hurt them,” she says.
Linsey and other athletic trainers have learned how to help their athletes deal with the intense pressure that comes with being a high school student-athlete. For example, with anxiety attacks, instead of just calming them down, together, they figure out what triggered the situation and how they can cope next time.
Another example is with social media, which can also intensify pressures.
"They’re constantly comparing themselves to others," she says. "We remind them that everyone’s path is different and that it’s okay to be themselves."
And Linsey points out that mental health care doesn’t stop at the training room door.
"We have an open-door policy with parents and coaches. Parents are critical because athletes go home to them,” says Linsey. “We need them to understand what’s going on so they can support their kids."
Coaches play a key role here as well. During team meals, they might notice an athlete skipping food and alert the trainers. This team approach ensures athletes get the care they need if there are early signs of an eating disorder.
Committed to the Whole Athlete
By blending sports medicine with mental health training, Linsey and the Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine team at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist are redefining what it means to holistically care for student-athletes - both on and off the field.
"I enjoy being there for the kids," she says. "Mental health is just as important as physical health. When athletes hit a wall in rehab, it’s often because of mental struggles.
Knowing what they’re going through helps us guide them back on track."
If your child needs additional mental health support, our athletic trainers can refer them to one of our Behavioral Health experts at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and Atrium Health Levine Children’s Brenner Children’s Hospital. Find a provider.
To schedule an appointment with an Orthopaedic or Sports Medicine specialist, call 888-716-WAKE (9253) or schedule online.