Chicago Sky Trainer Motivates Students In Visit to EPCHS

EVERGREEN PARK, IL – Sam Almendarez, an athletic trainer for the WNBA champion Chicago Sky basketball team, spoke to students in the College and Career Exploration class at Evergreen Park Community High School last week.

Almendarez outlined his career path, from his 2012 graduation from Argo Community High School to landing his current role with the Sky in 2019.

“His message was to network with as many people through various jobs and continue your education to make a career more marketable,” Nick Codiamat, one of the instructors of the CCE class, said.

Since graduating from Argo, Almendarez worked as an athletic trainer at various high schools, colleges and the NBA G league summer camp.

He was part of the 2021 Sky squad that won the franchise’s first WNBA championship after starting the season 0-7 and heading into the playoffs as a No. 6 seed with a .500 record.

Almendarez is the brother of Veronica Tarbhai, a counselor at EPCHS.