Impressive Debut for New Drake Athletic Trainer

When ace hurt his back while pitching a gem against San Marin High earlier this season, coach wasn’t worried.

That’s because he had in the bullpen and Gina Biviano in the dugout.

Bostjancic pitched great in the Pirates’ next game, shutting down Terra Linda. But make no mistake about it, Biviano will play just as big a role if Drake is to repeat as Marin County Athletic League baseball champions this spring.

That’s because if Biviano does her job, Parnow will be back pitching Drake’s most important games before long.

Biviano, a San Jose native and Chapman University graduate, is Drake’s athletic trainer -- a first in school history. She was a gift of the Drake Benchwarmers, who saw a good thing at Redwood and set out to copy it.

“Given the cost, I personally was skeptical that it was money well spent,” Farb admitted. “But she’s been very good both in terms of injury rehab and injury prevention. I’ve been very impressed.”

Biviano, who served as athletic trainer for Santa Clara’s women’s basketball and track teams while attending graduate school at San Jose State, was hired by Drake – at no cost to the school district – during the fall football season. She works three days a week at the school, but has had a seven-day-a-week impact.

“A lot of what I’ve tried to do at Drake is educate the athletes how they can help themselves get better,” Biviano said. “The coaches have been good at sending kids to me, so I can work with them and give them instructions on what to do while I’m not on campus.”

Parnow hasn’t pitched since suffering the injury last Tuesday. But he’s making good progress, and both Biviano and Farb believe he’ll be back on the mound soon.

“He’s been able to help himself,” Biviano noted. “Getting healthy requires a lot of ownership on the part of the kids to follow the plans. There’s a lot of homework. I’m just trying to help them help themselves.”

Biviano, who said she first got interested in becoming an athletic trainer after she suffered ankle injuries as a prep basketball player, was thrown right into the huddle upon being hired by Drake. She quickly gained a great appreciation of the Drake family – and vice versa.

“I came in right in middle of the football season, which was really difficult because I didn’t know the team and didn’t know the coaches,” she said. “But in a short time, I was able to work with several athletes to help them continue to play or help get them the help that they needed from doctors.

“There's a learning curve for people who either don’t know what I do or don’t understand. It helps that Drake is a very tight-knit community. That’s definitely to my advantage.”

Biviano’s best work so far probably has been with Max Hassen, who underwent knee surgery after an injury that occurred during the football season.

“I’ve been working with him since November in accordance with his physical therapy program, supplementing his program when he hasn’t been able to see his physical therapist,” she said. “Part of what I’m doing with him is strengthening and range-of-motion, getting him ready for his return to baseball.

“It gives him someone to work with on my three days there. Rather than if I weren’t at the high school, he’d be left to do it on his own. He’s definitely on the right track.”

That soon will be clear for everyone to see. He might get medical clearance to make his junior varsity baseball debut this week.

Make no mistake about: Biviano is as proud as anyone when an injured Pirate is healthy enough to return to the field.

“I really believe in the role an athletic trainer plays in sports medicine,” she said. “I know I’ve made a difference when I see this pitcher or this other player get back to play and see the joy it brings to them, because their identity as an athlete is very, very important to them.

“I’m very happy to watch them play again, that I had a hand in helping them get better. That’s pretty much why I am an athletic trainer.”

And why, despite potential opportunities to move up the sports ladder, she’d be perfectly happy being a Pirate for a long, long time.

“The misconception of high school athletic trainers is we’re just here to get experience so we can move on to the college level,” she noted. “I wouldn’t say I’m doing this so I can get back to college, because I could be at the college level right now.

“High school athletes are fun work with. They are highly motivated.

“I like teaching. The ideal for me would be teaching athletic training and still working at the high school.  I’m very happy being at Drake.”

DRAKE BASEBALL UPDATE

Recent results: Beat San Marin, 6-2; beat Terra Linda, 6-1; lost to Marin Catholic, 4-0; tied with San Rafael, 3-3, after three innings (rain).

Current record: 2-1 in MCAL, 4-1 overall.

Highlights: Marky Parnow handcuffed San Marin for five innings before leaving with a back injury … had two-run double to lead offense … Bryan Bostjancic struck out 14 in the win over Terra Linda … , , Bostjancic and had hits in three-run inning that provided more than ample support ... Bostjancic homered and Kramer belted a two-run single in the early going against San Rafael. The game will be completed at a later date.

Coach Adam Farb’s comments: “The first couple of games (San Marin and Terra Linda), we pitched very well. And we were able in both those games to string together a number of hits all in one inning, which is really critical in wood-bat games. Instead of spreading out seven hits in seven innings, it’s important to put them together in one or two clumps. We were able to do that in both those games.”

Upcoming schedule: Friday at Novato, 4:30 p.m.; Saturday at home vs. Justin-Siena (Napa), 1 p.m.