Heath Willis, who was a four-sport athlete at Poplar Bluff, works at the Physical Assessment and Rehabilitation Center here in Poplar Bluff. [Click to enlarge]

Story by ALEX ABATE ~ DAR Sports Writer

Heath Willis counts each repetition with his hands on the bar as a spotter. As his patient's set is done, Willis says words of encouragement during strength and conditioning training before a small break and the next set.

Willis, formerly a four-sport athlete at Poplar Bluff and athlete and cheerleader at TRCC, is now giving back to the sports community as an athletic trainer.

Willis, now 30, works at the Physical Assessment and Rehabilitation Center here in Poplar Bluff after graduating from Southeast Missouri State in 2005. As part of his job at the P.A.R.C., Willis works specifically with the Three Rivers softball, women's basketball teams and cheerleading squad during their seasons, whether it be helping a player with a nagging injury with rehabilitation or simply taping another before a contest.

"I absolutely love my job," Willis said. "Like helping people and getting them to return to play at their previous level and, if I can, to a better level through strength and conditioning and rehab."

If an athlete comes in complaining of something, Willis doesn't just jump right in to remedy the situation. He gets an injury history from the athlete and then does various tests to determine exactly what may be wrong with the muscle or body part. If it is something Willis can take care of through treatment and therapy, he does, but if it is something more serious, Willis refers the athlete to a doctor for treatment. Willis has always been familiar with the strength and conditioning of muscles through playing sports but the science side of injuries was somewhat unknown to him before he went to school.

"When I got into the program, I realized that there was a lot more science," Willis said. "There is the strength and conditioning part and then there is the science part of injuries. I knew some of the body and how to make it stronger but didn't know the anatomy as well and the special tests that an athletic trainer needs to know to do tests on an injured athlete."

The work that Willis does with the various TRCC teams in invaluable, Three Rivers coach Jack Childress said.

"He is a sports nut and a softball nut but as far as the young ladies, from a hang nail to an ACL, he's Johnny on the spot," Childress said. "He has so much patience as far as injuries, its unbelievable."

Willis' care and professionalism on the job may separate him from other athletic trainers, Childress said.

"He's very professional and dedicated to injuries and injury prevention and care of injuries," Childress said. "You don't get people like that all the time."

Bobbie Jones, a sophomore on the women's basketball team this past season, had recurring ankle problems throughout the year but always knew she could go to Willis whenever anything went awry.

"I haven't meant anybody that doesn't like Heath," Jones said. "He is always positive. If you are tired and you don't to work out, he just knows how to motivate you."

After graduating from TRCC in 1999, Willis married his wife Kellie later that year. Willis was out of school doing general construction work until heading back to Southeast Missouri State to get his degree in Heath Management with an Athletic Training Option. Willis got into athletic training while in college as he was a wellness tech at the P.A.R.C.

"Working there and seeing what they did with athletes, I thought that since I was such a fan of sports, I would want to go into athletic training," Willis said.

Willis graduated from Poplar Bluff in 1995 where he was always busy his senior year. He lettered in baseball, football, track and wrestling, a rare feat. Willis lettered four years in baseball, including his freshman season when he attended Clearwater, two years in football, two years in track and just the one year in wrestling.

Willis had kick returns in back-to-back games for the Mules, one against Graves County (Ky.) for 94 yards and another for 95 yards against Belleville Althoff (Ill.) during his senior year. He had a total of nine touchdowns over his senior year, one coming on a 62-yard interception return against Jackson.

"At that level, being a multisport guy is very tough," former Mules receiver coach Billy Pyland said. "It shows how much dedication it took him to play. It is tough to do that and that kid did it 100 percent."

In track, he ran the 100 meters, was on the 400- and 800-relay teams. He played right field for the Mules, making all district and all conference in his senior season and was in the 140-pound weight class on the mat. All of his involvement in sports only helps when he deals with injuries now.

"(Playing in sports) is more beneficial to me because I know the skill set that is involved in most sports that are played," Willis said. "I know what the athletes are going through, like the hand mechanics of throwing and hitting and that sort of stuff."

As an athletic trainer now, he knows more about the healthy eating side of sports than he knew when he was an athlete.

"The biggest thing that I have learned now that I didn't know then is nutrition," Willis said. "Athletes now live off fast food and that kind of stuff and don't eat properly and take care of themselves as well as I think they should. I was the same way back then, lived off fast food and didn't understand what it meant."

Willis and Kellie welcomed their first child, Keira Renee Willis on Nov 18 2007

"I would hope that she would like to play sports, but I'm not one of the types of people that are like 'You are going to play and like it,'" Willis said.