By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
For the better part of the last four years, through all the amazing wins and the few heartbreaking defeats, Medfield native Haley Wong has been present on the sidelines taping up ankles and making sure that the MHS varsity lacrosse players were good to go as one of the team’s athletic trainers.
When Wong wasn’t on the sidelines for MHS lacrosse games, she could normally be found stringing up lacrosse heads and cashiering over at Monkey Sports in Norwood as a part-time job.
Following her graduation from Medfield High last June, Wong opted to attend Quinnipiac University, where she currently majors in athletic training and physical therapy.
Wong says that the time she spent under the guidance and mentorship of Medfield High School Head Athletic Trainer Maria Hutsick, as well as working with lacrosse equipment 24/7 over at Monkey Sports, have allowed her to develop a passion for both the sport of lacrosse and working in athletic training, and she would love to make a career out of it.
“The head athletic trainer at my high school, Maria Hutsick [formerly head of sports medicine at BU] took me in as a freshman, gave me every opportunity to grow, and she shaped me into what I am today. She showed me everything I know. Maria taught me that there is no ceiling in this profession and that there is always room to grow. She’s been an AT for a decade and she’s always learning new techniques and getting better, and that’s a mind set that I’ve definitely adopted from her and hope to utilize in the future.”
“Working at Monkey Sports has also helped too,” said Wong. “The people I worked with over there have been really supportive throughout the entire way and helped give me a lot of great opportunities.”
With second semester now underway at QU, so, too, begins the race for landing a summer internship.
Unlike most professions (accounting, sales, or graphic design, for example) internships for physical therapy and athletic training are not exactly easy to find. However, after a lot of digging and a lot of researching, Wong seems to have found the right one: with the training staff at the World Lacrosse Games in Netanya, Israel this upcoming summer.
“Honestly, I just follow lacrosse and I knew the WLG’s were headed to Israel this summer,” said Wong. “I applied and they got back to me and I was lucky enough to get accepted. It’s an honor just to be invited.”
As far as what she hopes to take away from the internship, Wong says that the ability to travel to a new area of the world and experience a different culture first-hand, all while doing something she hopes to one day make a career out of, would be an incredible resume and moral-booster.
“Obviously, it would be a great professional opportunity,” said Wong. “I’ve been in the PT/AT game for a while. I’m getting a real fell for what it’s like and this experience would allow me to see it from another angle on an international stage. I would be somewhere completely new and I’d have pressure put on me, but dealing with things like that are what allows a person to grow both professionally and internally.”
However, like any good offer, there’s normally a catch.
In order to be able to take part in the internship and go to Israel, Wong needs to raise $3,000 to afford traveling expenses, uniform fees, and other necessities. So far, Haley and her peers have raised close to $800.
Members of the community who would like to donate and help Medfield native Haley Wong experience the opportunity of a lifetime this summer in Israel are encouraged to visit https://www.gofundme.com/InternHaley. No amount is too little, and every bit gets Haley a little closer to Netanya.
For funny and incisive sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter at @fLAno0, or read his blog at www.flannylive.wordpress.com.
