Athletic trainers play an important role in student athletes lives; whether it’s helping with an injury or just being someone for athletes to connect with. Brendan Moriarty, the newest trainer at North Penn High School, fits the role of a personable figure down in the trainers’ room while effectively doing his job on the daily. Moriarty has gotten through his first year here, and reflects back on his transition as nothing less than a positive one.

From the jump, Moriarty knew he wanted to become an athletic trainer because of his personal experience in the sports world. He was a multi-sport athlete in high school who lacked physical resources, and took it upon himself to get into a field where he can help athletes who need it.

“We did not have an athletic trainer when I was in high school… that’s when I learned about the profession. I thought hey, I can stay around sports, I can be involved, and I like the medical side, so I think I understand the athletes mind,” he explained.

Moriarty, after attending King’s College and East Stroudsburg University as an athletic training major, became a graduate assistant at Lock Haven while working with the softball team there. In the previous seven years, he was at Northwestern Lehigh before taking a role at North Penn.

As far as how this career path played out for him, Moriarty is content with what he does, along with the smooth and welcoming transition into the position he has taken on at North Penn.

“I get to work, watch sports and be a fan of the athletes, which I like,” Moriarty said. “I think the coaches are very accepting and welcoming here. That’s a big thing- if you go to a place as an athletic trainer, you work with the coaches and the AD. If that’s bad, it could be toxic, but here it’s very welcoming.”

The appeal of North Penn was prevalent to Moriarty when exploring his options. Not only was it a perfect fit for him personally, but the image North Penn carries played into the lure of the job.

“Location was a big thing. I was driving from Philadelphia to Allentown every day, and when this opportunity came up, I was like okay this is perfect,” Moriarty explained. “North Penn has a good reputation of sports, even when I was in high school I knew about North Penn.”

Moriarty’s entire role revolves around student athlete life. His experiences working with athletes at other locations differ from the level of play North Penn carries.

“There’s more high level athletes here because the population size is bigger… Here every team has at least one D1 level athlete. It’s just a higher caliber,” Moriarty elaborated.

As far as team culture goes, Moriarty has seen how teams act as a whole at North Penn; something special that not every school experiences.

“Each team is its own little family. Most of the time at other schools, people play multiple sports so it’s one big thing. Different sports here are like enclosed little families,” Moriarty explained.

The amount of athletes and how many sports they play directly affects the injuries produced. Right away, Moriarty took notice of this factor.

“I think there’s a slight reduction of injuries here just because you’re usually not playing three seasons worth of sports, which a smaller school would,” he elaborated.

Not only did Moriarty see a contrast in the athletes, but the school as a whole. His transition from a small college to a large, diverse public high school was more of a difference than he anticipated, yet a positive opportunity to be welcomed into the North Penn family.

“There is much more diversity here… I like the more cultural immersion,” he explained. “It’s been a good transition. I’ve spent the last seven years developing relationships with the last school I was at… going this way there’s more athletic trainers and more athletes, but you still feel this homey environment.”

Moriarty’s ability to settle into North Penn comfortably reflects positively on not only North Penn as a whole, but his own determination to make an impact on athletes as a trainer.

“Working with high school kids; I like getting to know people. I want to know how you are as people,” he concluded.