Summer camps are wrapping up and the Bixby Athletic season has begun. With the first day of school right around the corner and practices already underway, we want to welcome you back to another year packed full of Spartan Nation Athletics! Let's get started by meeting the foundation of our athletic programs...our Strength Coaches and Training Staff.
Welcome to the 2024-2025 Athletic Season!
Meet our Strength and Conditioning Coaches
Strength and conditioning is a requirement of all our athletes. Strength and Conditioning includes a wide variety of exercises, lifts, and techniques designed to maximize one’s overall total fitness, strength, and agility. Throughout the course, the athletes will gain a better understanding of human musculature, and how to target specific areas that will enable them to reach personal goals. Finally, this course will enable athletes to benefit from sport specific movements allowing each student more functional strength for the sport they compete in and in turn helping to minimize injury.
Athletes will have Strength and Conditioning included in their schedule with the majority of 9th graders in 0 hour (before school) and upperclassmen in various hours throughout the day. This course is an elective that DOES count as credit toward graduation, therefore attendance in the course DOES matter and can affect the student's grade and in turn, their GPA if not attended. It is the athlete's responsibility to monitor their attendance in PowerSchool and make sure they are under the allowable days missed.
If an athlete is injured, they still must attend Strength and Conditioning. We have Athletic Trainers on staff who will help monitor the athlete's ability to participate and work closely with medical staff to rehabilitate the injury.
Meet our Athletic Trainers
Bixby Public Schools is fully committed to the health and safety of our student athletes. Our sports medicine team is comprised of 3 Certified Athletic Trainers: Stephen Moss, Christa Montgomery and Savannah Kautz. They provide care to over 1,100 athletes at our high school and middle school competitions while covering over 20 sports and 70 teams. Our athletic trainers are part of the allied healthcare team and are nationally board certified and state licensed by the Oklahoma Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision. They work closely with our team physician, Dr. Wendy Emerson, and her colleagues at Advanced Orthopedics, whom the district is partnered.
Our Certified Athletic Trainers provide many services including: prevention of injuries, clinical evaluation and diagnosis, immediate and emergency care, treatment and rehabilitation, organization and professional health and well being, and concussion evaluation and management. These medical professionals are well versed in injury recognition, diagnosis, treatment and getting our injured athletes back onto their fields of play as efficiently, safely and quickly as possible. Many injuries can be treated in house and save you a trip to the doctor’s office.
As we start back to school, we want to remind our athletes that our sports medicine team and strength and conditioning staff work in collaboration to allow injured athletes to modify workouts, but continue to improve both on their physical strength and mental toughness while overcoming their injury. All doctor’s notes should come to the sports medicine staff first so they can share with coaches to make sure all communication lines are efficient.
If an athlete is injured, they are instructed to check in at the Home of the Spartans Athletic Training Facility at 7:15am. This is approximately 30 minutes before zero hour begins. Morning treatments are available daily from 7:15-9:30am. It allows our sports medicine team to evaluate and make a plan for that specific injury. Once injury is determined and a plan is developed, the AT staff will assign a color to that injured athlete. Mild injuries like shin splints, contusions, general soreness will be assigned a color GREEN. More moderate injuries like an ankle sprain, patella tendinitis, low back pain will be assigned a color YELLOW. Major injuries such as being placed in concussion protocol, surgeries and potentially dangerous injuries will be assigned a color RED. This color shift is shared with the S&C staff and allows them to safely modify workouts. Studies show that training must continue, even if an injury has occurred. We work together to make sure modified workouts can be completed safely while still providing strength opportunities. Pushing through many injuries also shows the athlete that they can overcome adversity.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to our sports medicine and strength and conditioning staff in order to provide your Spartan athlete with the best plan of care and action.
All forms must be complete in Rank One to begin Practice.
Do you still need a physical? Our Trainers have scheduled another physical night for August 15th, 6:30 - 7:30 PM. Register online at bixbyps.info/physicals.
Paying for drug testing on My School Bucks is part of the Rank One process. Here is the link to pay for your drug test: MySchoolBucks - Drug Test
Student Schedules - Adding/Dropping an Athletic Course
Adding an athletic to a schedule - Counselors will not add a student to an athletic in PowerSchool until they hear from the coach. A coach MUST inform the counselor of any additions to their roster.
Dropping an athletic from a schedule - There is a form for that. The student will meet with their counselor to get a form that must to signed by the coach stating the student has turned in all uniforms and does not owe any dues. This form must also be signed by the parent. Once the form is signed, the student will return it to the counselor who can then change the schedule if all credit requirements are being met. This depends on the time of year and what course the student is wanting to use to replace the athletic course.
Switching sports - At the end of an athletic season, the coach will meet with the athletes and determine if they will stay in off-season or change to another sport. This information will be sent to the counselors so they can change schedules. The student does not need to do anything except speak with their coach about their intentions. If a student is wanting to change sports in the middle of a season, then they will need to get a form from the counselor that will require the outgoing coach's signature as well as the incoming coach's signature. Once both coaches have signed the form, as well as the parent, then the form will be returned to the counselor who will then change the schedule.
