She has never designed a single play, but you would be hard pressed to find a more valuable member of the Aberdeen Roncalli athletic department over the past three decades.

Theresa Backous has one of those rare jobs, where the less she is needed the better.

Backous has been the athletic trainer for the Cavaliers for 32 years and does whatever she can to keep athletes in the game.

“That’s always your goal is to keep everybody healthy,” Backous said. “We know that that doesn’t happen, but I always have said I have the only job everybody hopes I’m bored all the time, because that means everybody’s healthy and not getting hurt.”

A lot has changed since Backous became certified in 1992, from equipment to fitness routines to the diagnosis of injuries.

“There’s more research and there’s more education about them,” Backous said of injuries, “and we know better what they are instead of, oh, it’s just an old knee injury, it’s oh you tore your meniscus, or oh you tore your ACL.”

Another major change in sports is that athletes now train year around, which can provide its own set of challenges.

“There’s really not even an off season for anyone really anymore,” Backous said, “because even in the off-season, say in the summer, they go to how many different camps for basketball or you’re lifting pretty much the entire year for football.”

Backous can’t estimate how many ankles she has taped through the years, but she has seen a few things that might make other people’s stomachs turn.

Being a trainer, she is at every contest and nearly every practice and is usually the first on the scene when an athlete goes down.

Backous recalled one of the first major injuries she encountered during her first years on the job. A gymnast suffered a compound fracture on her ankle during a state meet.

“And gymnasts have nothing on their feet and you can see it, and the crowd was just kind of appalled and people were getting sick,” Backous said. “So that was one that was pretty bad, but I’ve seen different femur fractures and obviously whenever you have to take somebody off on a spine board, that’s always really scary for everyone involved as well.”

Backous knows the nature of her job and understands the ramifications of making the wrong decision. That’s why she always tries to weigh the best option for the athlete.

“I think that’s always in the back of your mind. You’re always like, well I really don’t want to make a mistake. If you make a mistake, it could be detrimental to them,” Backous said. “There’s always a bit of apprehension, I think. I say prayers before every game just hoping nobody gets hurt and if they do, that I know how to take care of it and what the next step is.”

And while most people think that football is the sport for the greatest risk of injury, and it probably is, athletes can get hurt in just about any sort of competition.

“I’ve had concussions in track,” Backous said. “I’ve had kids fall on a hurdle and hit their head or I’ve had kids long jumping and hit their head on their knee and get a concussion; just different things, odd stuff that occurs.”

Whether the injuries are serious or minor, they are all part of life on the job for Backous, who is always doing her best to take care of the athletes.

“I think each injury you take home with you. You kind of replay it in your head and try to figure out exactly if you did everything right,” Backous said. “Sometimes being an athletic trainer is getting people to the right people also.”

She has been taught that the best approach is to remain calm when athletes get hurt. That’s why you won’t see Backous rushing out on the field or onto the court unless it is an absolutely catastrophic situation.

She learned that logic while taking a class under former Northern State trainer Heidi Matthews years ago.

“She always said, always keep your cool, even if you are nervous as all get out inside, just be calm, because if you’re calm, they’re going to be calm, they’re going to calm down. They don’t need you panicking,” Backous said. “Sometimes if you walk out slow, it gives them time to collect themselves a little bit before you get there and kind of ask them some questions.”

Backous knows that if things go as planned, she won’t be front and center, and might have limited interactions with athletes.

“I always say the ones that I really know the best have probably been injured, so hopefully they don’t know me a whole lot,” Backous said. “I always say, ‘But you can just come and say hi,’ I’m good with that.”

And make no mistake, athletes don’t need an invitation to do just that.

The training room is a hot bed of activity at Roncalli, whether people need medical treatment or not.

“It’s a lot more than just being a trainer,” said Roncalli athletic director and girls’ basketball coach Derek Larson of the role of Backous. “I feel like she’s part of the family almost.”

One of Roncalli’s current athletes is indeed a family member. Backous’ son Zane competes for the Cavaliers and adds a new dimension to her job.

“That definitely makes it harder,” Backous said. “I always say being a trainer and a parent is much harder than just being a trainer. You get a little more involved. It’s a little more intense.”

In reality, Backous has way more than one son on Roncalli’s athletic teams. There is a special bond that she shares with the student-athletes, and she treats all of them like they are her own.

“She’s got a counseling degree, which she definitely uses more than what she probably even wants to use,” Larson said. “Again, everyone kind of flocks to going there.”

When jokingly asked if she had a nickname like Mother Theresa, Backous smiled.

“Well, you know there is that. They do kind of call me mom, more than just my own,” Backous said. “They always joke about that. I’m the mom at school. Sometimes I put them in their place like I’m their mom, too.”

And just like any other good mom would do, Backous fixes up her children, encourages them, and does her best to get them back in the game.