Shelbi Dawkins: new board certified athletic trainer

Please help us as we welcome Shelbi Dawkins to the JPII family as our board certified athletic trainer for our 22 sports teams! Dawkins (and her black lab Hank) recently relocated to Greenville from Idaho because she wants to be in a fun environment where everyone supports each other and feels like she found it at JPII. She’s excited for warm weather and barbecue!

“In my junior year of high school, I decided to manage the football team on a whim to meet new people and learn more about the sport and absolutely fell in love with what our athletic trainer did,” Dawkins said. “I spent my junior and senior years attending class, heading straight to the AT facility after class for sports practices for a few hours, then went to my part-time job for the rest of the night. Then I was crazy enough to do it all over again in the morning. I loved it!” Dawkins says she ultimately decided to become an AT because she loves helping people. “I find a lot of satisfaction in watching someone progress from being unable to walk or lift their arm over their head to running out on the football field or having their first serve on the volleyball court.”

Her favorite part of being an AT? “I love doing injury evaluations! I look at it like a mystery I get to solve and it’s fun trying to comb through all of the “evidence” and test results to nail down the diagnosis. I also love interacting with the student-athletes and seeing them accomplish the goals they set at the beginning of the season.”

Dawkins earned her bachelor of science in pre-athletic training and master of athletic training from the University of Idaho. Her AT experience includes clinics, high school, college, and the football team at the United States Military Academy at West Point. In her free-time she loves to be outside, usually hiking, camping, or near a body of water to fish, paddle board, or swim. She also enjoys baking with sourdough, coming up with new types of breads, bagels, and cookies to try.