Mt. Hope High School hit the proverbial jackpot when it hired Kristina Keddie as its athletic department trainer. Now in her second tour of duty at the school, her professional approach to her job continues to pay dividends.

“A lot of schools in Rhode Island currently do not have an athletic trainer,” she pointed out, “and while there is a bit of a professional shortage across the country, we are still advocating for the importance of having access to an A.T. at the high school level.”

Originally, this dedicated and very accomplished member of the athletic department worked as the athletic trainer at Mt. Hope from 2014-2018, before exiting to Roger Williams University from 2018-2023 to serve in the same capacity.

“As of last year, I came back to Mt. Hope High School, and it’s as if I never left,” said Keddie. “Everyone has been so accommodating and wonderful to work with.”

Keddie’s resume is noteworthy. She has served as president of the Rhode Island Athletic Trainers Association from 2021-2023, and has done a lot of work at the state level to have specific bills introduced and discussed at the State House.

“One bill specifically I was able to testify in favor of in 2023 was a push to have an athletic trainer designated at each school district in Rhode Island,” she said. “Unfortunately, we ran out of time in the legislative session, but will be looking to reintroduce again this year.”

Now back at Mt. Hope, Keddie feels like she’s back home. The student-athletes at the school love her and appreciate her professional approach at every turn.

Said Keddie, “Our job responsibilities on a daily basis consist of but not limited to injury prevention, evaluation/diagnosis, immediate and emergency care (such as concussions, orthopedic injuries, wound care, etc.), day-to-day treatment of injuries and rehabilitation (taping).”     

Mt. Hope athletic director Christy Belisle knows full-well Keddie’s value to her department.

“Without a trainer, the athletic department is in peril,” she emphasized. “Kristina is very important to our school. It’s important that people understand what she does. Her job is to keep kids playing and to take care of the small stuff that won’t turn into big stuff. We’re so happy to have her back here.”

Boys’ varsity basketball coach Jeff Grifka says Keddie has done exceedingly well in her job as athletic trainer.

“Our trainer is awesome,” he noted. “She communicates very well; she’s very approachable, easy to talk to, and puts in a lot of work.”

At a recent ankle taping session at the high school, Keddie meticulously took care of things in her usual, professional manner. Now that she’s back, you can sense the students’ comfort level just having her around doing what she does best.

"I have really enjoyed working with the student athletes at Mt. Hope High School. Part of our job is identifying and treating injuries, but it is always rewarding to see a student athlete with a substantial injury come back from that into their sport. At the high school level it is also impressive to see student athletes play multiple sports, many times in all three seasons. Trying to keep student athletes healthy through all of their seasons can be challenging but is a part of the job," Keddie said. "As athletic trainers we are licensed health care professionals. Our goal is to manage injuries, provide the best possible treatment and refer as needed. It is crucial for the safety of our student athletes to have access to an athletic trainer at the secondary school level and believe every school district in the state of RI deserves to have one."