There are plenty of teams at Newtown High School.

One of them that does not compete but has tremendous impact on the success of all the Nighthawk sports squads is the athletic trainer duo of Sarah Attanasio and Doug Michlovitz. One or the other has been along the sidelines taping up, icing down, stretching out, or evaluating members of the NHS teams throughout the fall season.

Attanasio is familiar with the sidelines at Newtown High, having played soccer for the Nighthawks a decade ago. It was a reunion of sorts on the girls’ soccer team bench when Attanasio worked with Coach Marc Kenney and the Nighthawk booters.

Her first varsity game, in fact, was Kenney’s first varsity tilt: a 2-0 win over Masuk of Monroe at Treadwell Park, before a crowd of 500-plus fans, on September 11, 2007, Kenney recalls. Attanasio had an assist in that game and, 14 years later, she was there to assist the entire girls’ soccer program to be game-ready.

“She and I grew up together in this program,” Kenney said. “I see her and it puts me at ease. The loyalty to me and this program, it’s life long.”

“It’s awesome, it’s really exciting. It’s fun to be back here with Marc. It feels like home,” Attanasio said during the soccer team’s state playoff game against Ridgefield on November 10.

Attanasio has fond memories of playing for the Nighthawks. “It was the best, definitely changed my life — great support, great teammates. Marc’s a really good coach. He knows how to coach kids, which is really awesome,” she said.

Attanasio deals with everything from what turns out to be nothing more than a bruise to a sprain to the really bad stuff such as ACL tears, concussions, and knocked out teeth, she said.

“Season-ending injuries are the worst,” said Attanasio, adding that “it’s tough to break it to a player that their season is over.”

Another challenge for trainers is convincing athletes they should not play when there is a risk of further injury by pushing it. The most effective method for getting a young athlete to understand when it is time to sit out, Attanasio finds, is by having them prove it to themselves with a functional test. If the motion of simply passing the ball causes pain, for example, it is time to rest.

Attanasio is working full-time as a research coordinator at Yale University. She previously worked as an athletic trainer for a high school in an underserved rural community in Virginia for three years, providing emotional support in addition to taping up and icing athletes, she said.

Attanasio earned her undergraduate degree in Athletic Training and a Master’s Degree in Exercise Science, both at the University of Connecticut.

Michlovitz is a physical education teacher, in his 23rd year at Hawley School. As a matter of fact, he taught along with Attanasio’s mom in town and he has spent some time at NHS during the past few years. The connections he has with athletes who were his students long ago are among what Michlovitz likes best about his athletic trainer role at NHS. Some of the Nighthawks he watched play and worked with this past season were his students decades ago.

Dealing with major injuries such as tears or concussions is tough for Attanasio and Michlovitz. One of the bright spots in this line of work is when an athlete gets back to competition after being hurt.

“It’s great seeing a kid come back on the field after recovering from an injury,” said Michlovitz, who worked all the varsity football games, both home and away.

Athletic trainers travel with the football squads due to the higher level of risk and injuries in the sport. Athletic trainers have to be ready to run onto the field to treat an injured competitor at any moment, but a lot of the responsibility of the athletic trainer is before and after practices and games. A big part of the job, Michlovitz said, is the interaction he has not only with athletes but also their parents and coaches.

“It’s constant communication between the player, the parent, and the coach to make sure we’re on the same page with respect to the injury,” he said.

“I love it. The kids are great, the coaches have been great — they’re very supportive,” Michlovitz added.

While the teams that go head to head are looking to come out on top, the athletic trainers very often are called upon to help out athletes from competing schools, Michlovitz noted.

“I always tell the coaches we’re Switzerland,” he said of the neutral approach necessary for athletic trainers.

Michlovitz went to the University of Vermont where he earned a degree in Physical Education with a concentration in Athletic Training before earning a Masters in Exercise Science at Southern Connecticut State University and a sixth year degree in Educational Leadership at Central Connecticut State University. His career includes a stint as minor league athletic trainer in the Milwaukee Brewers organization.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.