Published: June 28, 2008 12:39 am      

EKU trainer travels to Honduras to educate Olympians

RICHMOND — Smaller egos, less ice and out-of-date facilities were just a few of the experiences Eastern Kentucky University athletic trainer Joe Beckett encountered during the week he spent with the Olympic athletes of Honduras.

Beckett, who traveled to the country June 3-9 with Athletes in Action, a sports ministry group, was involved a wide-range of activities while he was in Central America. Not only did he give presentations to groups of athletes about sports medicine, rehabilitation, injury treatment and prevention; but he also looked at injuries to Honduran athletes and helped train the Olympic trainers on various types of injuries. He said he is hoping to establish relationships between the universities in Honduras and EKU.

“My vision, and I know it can become possible, is to develop partnership opportunities with these universities down in Honduras, either through student-exchange programs, faculty-exchange and cooperative research,” Beckett said. “My students’ knowledge base as an undergraduate student is a lot better than what they have down there.”

There are many cultural differences between Hon-duras and the United States, Beckett said. With the median income of the country being $3,200, the gap between the rich and the poor is very obvious.

The differences carried over into the Olympic training center as well. Honduras began competing at the Olympics in 1968. However, Beckett said their facilities left something to be desired.

“When I say Olympic training center, here in the United States, it means fabulous facilities, cutting-edge prevention of injuries, improving performance of athletes,” he said. “Their Olympic training center was built in the early 1990s. It was very apparent they had not done anything since. Their basketball floor was made of plywood. Because we had seen a lot of track athletes with injuries, I wanted to see their facilities. Well, it was very obvious that their track has never been resurfaced. That rubber coating only lasts so long.”

The main reason Beckett went on the trip was to give his presentations and educate the athletes. His presentations, which were given to crowds of 125 to 150 people, included discussions on psychology of injuries and rehabilitation, hydration, electrotherapy (which, he said, many of the athletes had never seen before), athletic trauma, flexibility techniques and evaluations of ankle, shoulder and knee injuries. Something he said surprised him was the willingness of the audience to participate and volunteer. He also said the scheduling sometimes was off because they didn’t factor in translation time and because the Honduran liaison didn’t speak English well. However, Beckett said he found one cultural icon to help describe himself to the athletes.

“I had never seen anything like this before, it had to have been one of the world’s largest KFCs,” he said. “It had this three-story glass building in the shape of a bucket of chicken. I bet that Kentucky Fried Chicken could hold 500 people. When I was down there, and I introduced myself, I would say, ‘Go Kentucky Fried Chicken!’ so they could understand where I was from.”

Also traveling with Beckett from the United States was an athletic trainer from Middle Tennessee State, Helen Binkley, as well as two college students, one from Ball State and one from a small Christian college in Georgia. Not only did they find a group of athletes that rarely used ice to treat injuries because they simply didn’t have it, but they also found the athletes had different demeanors from many athletes in the United States.

“There were no egos whatsoever,” Beckett said. “You can tell that even though they want to improve their performance and they’re very hard-working, they’re still very humble and appreciative. I have worked with a lot of athletes over the years and some, they think you’re doing them a favor and it’s just your job and they aren’t very appreciative. It’s the complete opposite of these guys.”

Beckett said while this was the first AIA group to travel to Honduras, it will not be the last. He said there was also a different approach from the government when dealing with their athletes.

“All of the government and university officials understand: If we can improve our athletics, we can enhance the relationships with not only the athletes, but with the athletes’ families,” he said. “In turn, over time, that will make us better as a country.”