Missoula Bone & Joint employs a team of licensed and certified athletic trainers to work in our sports medicine outreach program. You may meet an Athletic Trainer working in our orthopedic clinic providing education and instruction pre and post injury. But where you will most likely find them is at local high school sporting events and practices caring for your high school athletes. We serve 17 high schools across northwest Montana covering over 1,000 events and practices this school year already. We cover 5 different regions in northwest Montana with six full-time athletic trainers taking the lead in their given regions, and an additional 6 athletic trainers working as needed. Our athletic trainers work under the direct supervision of Dr. Robert Amrine, a fellowship trained Sports Medicine Doctor.
Matea Depoe is our north region athletic trainer. Matea earned her Masters’ in Athletic Training from Montana State University-Billings. Her territory covers a lot of area and sometimes up to 5 different schools. She works primarily with Arlee High School, Mission (Saint Ignatius) High School, Charlo High School, Ronan High School, and the occasional trip out to Hot Springs High School. Matea is actually from Hot Springs so she has a close connection with her region. She travels a lot to get to the high school events and often travels with teams as they move into tournament play.
The western region is managed by our athletic trainer Bobby Sager. Bobby graduated with his Masters’ in Athletic Training from Montana State University-Billings. Bobby came to us after working in North Carolina at a small college. He loves the small town atmosphere and the ability to help communities that would otherwise not get medical attention. Bobby covers Frenchtown High School, Alberton High School, Superior High School, and St. Regis High School. Bobby finds time to meet with each school and make sure every event is covered and our athletes are well taken care of.
Jessica Smith cares for our athletes in the east region. She earned her Masters’ in Athletic Training at the University of Montana. She is originally a Drummond High School graduate so she was excited when she had the chance to give back to her community. Jessica provides sports medicine coverage at Drummond High School, Philipsburg High School, and Seeley-Swan High School. You can see that the town of Seeley is a little out of her local region but Jessica always makes time for her Seeley-Swan athletes. It was a smooth transition when we were able to get Jessica back into her community and didn’t need to spend a lot of time earning their trust.
Jessica Moore is currently our southern region athletic trainer. She earned her EdD in Counselor Education from the Old Dominion University. Jessica is originally from Vermont where she was the athletic trainer at Saint Michael’s College and clinical assistant professor at the University of Vermont. She continues to teach as a professor at the University of Montana in the Athletic Training program. She provide sports medicine care at Stevensville High School and Florence-Carlton High School. These are two hard working communities that have seen the benefits of having someone like Jessica Moore available to care for their athletes. Jessica’s vast clinical experience and attention to detail helps these athletes get back to their sport.
The Missoula region is the responsibility of our athletic trainer Seth Lindauer. Seth graduated with his Masters’ in Athletic Training from the University of Montana. He currently covers Loyola Sacred Heart High School and Valley Christian High School. Seth is a very devoted athletic trainer to his schools and has been able to build relationships with his schools’ communities. Seth is able to focus his energy with his athletes and make sure they are getting the best quality care as they participate in their various sports throughout the school year.
Sentinel High School is covered by Dustin Burton. Dustin graduated from the University of Montana with his degree in Athletic Training in 2011. Dustin is also the assistant manager of the MBJ Sports Medicine Outreach Program that provides our athletic trainers to these local high schools. He enjoys building relationships with the Sentinel community and working alongside a great team of athletic trainers.
Bob Botkin is the MBJ Sports Medicine Outreach Director. He earned his degrees in physical therapy and athletic training from the University of Montana. He has been providing care to athletes in most of these communities now for over 22 years. Bob has devoted so much time and effort into improving the support and services for young athletes through both physical therapy and athletic training. You will most likely find Bob along the sidelines of Frenchtown High School where his son participates in sports, or watching football in Drummond or Charlo. He has not only grown to know most of our schools coaches but has built strong friendships with many of them. Bob started this program on his own while he was going through physical therapy school and his continued hard work and effort has helped this program grow even beyond his dreams.
Through our work as athletic trainers it is safe to say we work a lot! With that being said we utilize other athletic trainers to make sure every event at every school is covered. These athletic trainers are: Tasha Kohlwes, Becca Frye, Erika Stinchcomb, and Scott Richter. They are an integral part of our team, willing to cover events at short notice and driving across regions. Without their dedication to our program and our athletes our program would not be as strong.
Our athletic trainers are devoted to their job and enjoy being a part of these athletes’ lives. We all agree that the best part of being in these communities is providing a quality service that would otherwise not be offered. The relationships we get to build with the young athletes, coaches, administration, and their families are a great reward for the work we do. Thank you to our amazing communities for supporting our profession and our program!
