“People are usually most happy with me when I’m just watching the games.”

As an athletic trainer for Mason City High School, John Knapper has seen it all in his 10 years working here. From calm, relaxing days to the hectic fall season, his expertise helps MCHS athletes go above and beyond in various sports.

Growing up, Knapper played a variety of sports, including golf, basketball, cross country, and baseball, though he would describe his athletic career as “recreational”. “Always liked it, just wasn’t really blessed with a whole lot of athletic gifts,” he explains.

Knapper graduated from Forest City High School in 2009, unsure of what he wanted to do with his career. He attended NIACC for two years before landing in athletic training. He says that growing up around sports and having a passion for watching them had a hand in his decision. From there, he went to UNI to finish his education and graduated from college in 2015. Since then, he’s been working in the Mason City area as an athletic trainer at the high school.

The following interview has been edited and condensed.

So tell me a little bit about yourself. What’s your background?

I knew I wanted to do something in healthcare, didn’t know exactly what, so I just took a bunch of sciences and GenEds. Then, during that second year, I figured out I wanted to go into athletic training, so I went to UNI for the next four years and graduated in 2015. From there, applied and started at Chelsea Creek here in Mason City as the athletic trainer at Mason City. But then four years ago, the school switched to Athletico, and I was able to move along with Athletico as well and stay with Mason City High School.

Were you an athlete growing up?

I would say a recreational athlete. Golf was probably my best sport, if you want to call it that. But I did basketball, cross country, golf, and baseball. Always liked it, just wasn’t really blessed with a whole lot of athletic gifts.

What’s your favorite sport or season to be an athletic trainer?

It’s this season. It’s definitely fall season. It’s really busy. It gets kind of crazy, but there’s nothing like Friday Night Lights on the sidelines for football. So, definitely covering football in the fall season is probably my favorite.

What made you pick Mason City? Was it like a hard choice where you went, or did you want to stay close to Forest City?

Ten years ago, it was actually really pretty hard to find a job as a new grad, so I applied to probably four or five places. This was the only interview that I even got, and it was a good position too, because it was going to be with Chris Tritton, kind of learning under him for a few years while I started my profession. And it was very tempting here, obviously. Being from Forest City from North Iowa made it pretty easy to choose.

What do you think is different about working in Mason City instead of a smaller school?

Definitely, a number of athletes is a big thing. You have demographics that are always a little bit different. You got a lot of different insurances to worry about, whether it be Medicaid or any of your private insurances; there’s a lot to worry about, but being at Mason City, you get a lot of different sports, too. Swimming, tennis, a lot of schools around here, they don’t have that. So I’d say the number of athletes, number of sports, probably the two biggest things.

Do you like being behind the scenes?

Absolutely. That’s kind of what I always tell people if they ask me. People are usually most happy with me when I’m just watching the games. So, growing up being around sports, having a passion for watching them, too, obviously, is a big help and obviously makes the job a lot more fun.

What’s one of the craziest things you’ve encountered on the job?

We had a girl during a basketball game that tripped and fell and landed on her hand, and she fractured her arm, and her bone was sticking out of her skin. It was pretty gross to see, and she was in a lot of pain.

Describing that, do you ever get grossed out on the job?

Unless it’s my own blood, I don’t really get squeamish seeing it, I guess. The bones sticking out through the skin was certainly a little bit shocking, but I wasn’t lightheaded or anything like that.

So part of it is just being a calming presence for the athlete.

That’s the biggest thing for those traumatic injuries is trying to keep the athlete calm.

Would you recommend this job to students? What are the downfalls?

There’s a lot of time management involved. You’re definitely going to be busy at certain times. There’s going to be a lot of stress at times. But if you have a passion for health care and sports in particular, there are a lot of days where work is all fun. But there are other days when it’s busy and chaotic, and you just want to get home.