Many students have seen Monica Ng, the athletic trainer at Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School, either assessing an athlete’s injury, monitoring a major sporting event or walking the halls of IBW. Monica is an essential part of the IBW community and while her path to athletic training wasn’t direct, it shows how hard she works for IBW athletes.
Growing up, she was inspired by her mom’s work in physical therapy, which led her to explore options in that profession. Preparing to go to PT school, she attended undergraduate school and got her degree in kinesiology.
After undergrad, she applied to PT school and initially didn’t get in, but was accepted shortly after. During her first year, she struggled with a couple of classes, such as neuroanatomy, and was asked to leave PT school.
This news was one of the greatest challenges she has faced in her professional career. “That had been everything I was building my life up to until that point,” said Monica. “To have somebody tell me ‘no, we don’t think you can make it in this profession,’ was really devastating.”
While looking for alternate pathways, she spent a year trying strength and conditioning. During this year, she realized something: she missed the medical aspect of PT, but not the memorization. “If anyone had any problems, I couldn’t diagnose them, I couldn’t really tell them what was going on,” said Monica.
Looking back on high school, Monica realized it was a time that helped form a lot of her athletic habits and was a place where she could make a difference. “I had so much fun as a high school athlete,” said Monica. “I just liked overall the ability to help people in high school. In middle school they’re a little bit too young, they don’t listen, but in high school, you guys have a little bit more processing power and are more likely to take consideration.”
These reflections led her to pursue her current job: athletic training. Athletic training allows her to address issues that athletes face and focus on recovery and prevention without being as rigorous as PT, where she’d have to memorize every possible musculoskeletal issue.
As an athletic trainer, Monica is able to help student athletes diagnose their injuries or refer them to a doctor, depending on the severity. She has helped athletes recover from shin splints during track and field, assessed muscle injuries such as hamstring strains and is a go-to trusted adult for many athletes.
Lexi Sallos, a senior at IBW, has been doing cross country for the past four years and track for two. During her time in sports, she has frequently gone to Monica for any problems, such as her knee tendon issues she had during track season and more recently her hip issues during cross country.
For Sallos’s specific issues, Monica recommended exercises to help strengthen her legs and prevent her knee tendon issues from becoming a barrier to her participating in sports. “She gave me a lot of different strength training for my quads and shins so I didn’t put the same pressure on my knees,” said Sallos.
Monica is always available during any sporting event and practice, which is a huge convenience for athletes. “She’s easy to access, she’s not judgmental, I think she is a great addition to our community,” said Sallos.
In addition to always being available for athletes who need help, Monica stepped up and filled the role of the Pre-Med teacher for the 2024-25 school year on top of her duties as an athletic trainer.
“She [Monica] just lends that helping hand and makes the transition for sports so much easier,” said Sallos. “It is so much better for athletes to have a direct person they can go to when they are feeling pain and not wait and think if they need a doctor’s appointment.”
Even outside of her work at IBW, Monica volunteers with the Oregon Athletic Association to help promote the athletic trainer profession in the area. She spends the rest of her time volunteering at her local church and staying grounded with her friends and family.
