Katie Davis arrives at Adirondack Bank Center around 7 a.m. Her first order of business is meeting up with the Utica Comets’ strength coach and head athletic trainer and coordinating on which players will be coming in, what care is needed and how it will be provided.
Davis, the Comet’s Head of Medical Care and Rehabilitation, will attend first to the players that are coming in for rehab, as they arrive earlier than the rest of the team. Later in the early afternoon, the healthy players will start to enter the building in preparation for practice.
“If they have any aches and pains, they’ll come in and we’ll just try to minimize those as much as possible before practice,” Davis said. “Some guys have their routines of wanting to get some extra work done every day just to help prep their body for practice.”
During practice, Davis and the rest of the training staff will watch and be ready in case they’re needed for immediate assistance or an emergency basis. After practice, she’ll once again aid any players that are dealing with any aches, pains or issues.
After a brief reprieve in the afternoon, Davis is back at the rink around 3 p.m. in preparation of the game. As players start to return, the crew goes back to work.
“We prep the guys for games,” she said. “Guys will have their set who they work with and their rituals and habits. So, you usually have a guy who’s scheduled with you at a certain time, and you run them through it.”
During warmups and the game, Davis and the staff are ready, if needed, to provide care. After the game, they’ll address anything that comes up with team doctors. The 16-hour work day is typical in professional sports, for Davis it’s all in a day’s work.
“After the game, you hit the road and get ready for the next one,” she said, “do it all over again the next morning.”
Davis is in her second season in her current role for the Comets. She previously served as Physical Therapist / Assistant Athletic Trainer with the New Jersey Devils for two-plus seasons.
“It's just honestly making sure that guys are available to play and doing whatever it takes is probably the biggest summary of my job,” she said. “So, making sure that any aches and pains don't turn into something that could be longer term or anything that is longer term gets recovered as quickly as possible, and safely as possible, to get them back onto the ice. Just treatments daily, working on recovery with guys and making sure that their body's ready for the next day of practices and games and just really making sure that they're in the best position possible to play at their best.”
Davis has spent the past three-plus years in both the National and American Hockey League. As a woman, she has broken through into a very male-dominated field in a male-dominant sport. But not once did she ever question whether or not she belongs. The key for her has been earning the trust of the organization from top to bottom.
“I think just getting people to trust you and building relationships with players and coaches and staff members so that they do trust you and they know that you know what you're talking about,” Davis said. “(That) has been something that you have to overcome and let them know that you're in the room for a reason and it's because of your knowledge base. And usually pretty quickly once you start talking to guys and explaining some of the reasonings, they get to build that trust and then you're able to get a relationship with them so that they will start telling you when things are going on.”
While Davis has had to overcome obstacles, she’s also had a strong base of support lifting her up along the way.
“All of the staff in athlete care in New Jersey and my family has been an incredible support,” she said, “and I feel like I know I can reach out to anyone in the Jersey or Utica organization and just say, ‘Hey, I'm dealing with this. I'm wondering about this. Can you help me out? Do you have any advice? What would you do if you were in my situation?’ And I know all of them would be able to pick up the phone and have a conversation and have a call and give me advice. So it's really special to have that because I don't know if a lot of people have that, there's 10-plus people that I can call and talk to about anything. So that's pretty great.”
Davis has spoken on panels and shared her experiences with younger women that are also looking to break into the sports professional field, and she had some advice for those looking to get in on the training side.
“I think just working with athletes in general is different than working with any other group of people,” she said. “Their mindset's different, especially at the professional level, and learning how to really communicate with them properly so it's something that they'll understand.
“Not every person on our team or in the NHL speaks English super fluently or maybe they're coming over for the first time and they do speak English, but it's different when you're immersed in it completely. So just learning that and learning how to get your point across in a way that they'll understand and that will make sure that they're following what you think is best for them has been something that I wasn't able to learn in school but has definitely been helpful learning in the organization and in this experience.”
But most of all, Davis wants women to know that they belong, that they deserve to have a seat at the table, and to continue to pursue your passion.
“I think the most important thing is just to make connections and be a good person and reach out to people and just put your name out there,” she said. “The more that you reach out to people, the more that you talk to them, the more people's mind that you'll be on when a job opens up. And if you're a good person and you have the skills to back up what you're doing, you'll be able to find a place where you want to work easier and a place that wants to hire you easier.
“So, just make connections and be at the forefront of people's minds.”
