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Moore helps keep Jackson players healthy, safe as they chase state football title
Jason Moore is clear about his role as head athletic trainer for the Jackson R-2 school district.
"It's not my job to win the game," Moore said, "but to make sure (the players) are healthy and safe."
Moore, 35, will be at Faurot Field on Saturday, and if an Indians player gets his bell rung, twists an ankle or sustains an injury as minor as a nosebleed, he'll be right there.
Moore, a native of Pearcy, Arkansas, worked five years for Mid-America Rehab in Cape Girardeau before joining the Indian athletic program in 2013.
"I have an assistant," Moore said, "and together we resource every sport from junior high through 12th grade."
Varsity football gets special attention from the trainers.
"Whenever (Coach) Eckley's team goes on the road anywhere, regular season or postseason," Moore said, "so do we," pointing out every other Jackson sport only gets the training staff for away games in the postseason.
The Missouri High School State Activities Association (MSHSAA) has a protocol that must be followed if a player sustains a concussion.
"If we determine a player has been concussed," Moore said, "MSHSAA says the (student-athlete) is to be shut down completely from all (physical) activity. No running, no calisthenics, no weight lifting, nothing."
In the summer before football season, every player on the roster is given an impact concussion test.
This exam is a computer-based exam measuring reaction time and memory.
The state uses a "concussion return to play" form for all schools that sets out a precise plan to reactivate a student-athlete.
Once a player spends 24 hours symptom-free, the schools follow a five-step process to return the player to the field.
The final step involves clearance from a physician, but also from Moore.
"Yes, I make the call," Moore said, noting the Jackson football coaches "make it easy on us," by respecting decisions made for a player's health.
"We put the (injured) player through the concussion test again," Moore said, "and compare it to the baseline results from the summer."
"If the numbers don't match up, he's not back to normal (yet) and he doesn't play."
"We work with a team of (specialists)," Moore said, including physicians and physical therapists connected to Saint Francis Medical Center and SoutheastHealth.
Moore knows something about football, having been an offensive lineman at Lake Hamilton High in Pearcy.
He did not play a sport at Henderson State University, where Moore obtained a bachelor of science degree in athletic training.
The 2019 season was the second one for the Indians on their synthetic turf at the Pit, which features an underlying "shock" pad running the entire length of the playing surface.
At the time of the pad's installation, school superintendent John Link said the extra money involved was a price the district was prepared to pay to ensure safety.
"If it saves one student from having a concussion, it's worth it," Link told KFVS 12.
Parents, Moore promised, are kept informed of all treatment plans when one of their children is hurt while playing.
"Absolutely," Moore said, "they're in the loop."
Moore says he's been fortunate.
"I love sports," said Moore, "and (our staff is) fortunate that we very rarely have an adversarial moment with coaches."
"The coaches want to know if a player can go," Moore said, "but when we tell them no, they accept it."
Indian footballers have bought into the merits of sports medicine.
"We have a Saturday morning recovery workout at 7 a.m.," said Moore, "and we get 10 to 20 students every week."
The players receive electric simulation, ice baths, and are put through stretching exercises.
Citing their privacy, Moore was reluctant to discuss the care given to individual Indians -- such as Seth Waters and Luke Starzinger -- who suffered shoulder and neck injuries, respectively, this season.
"Any time you put a kid on the field," Moore said, "and he's performing well (post-injury), you know you've done your job."
As he walked back onto the practice field, Moore had a final comment about the nature of his work.
"We do a lot more than give ibuprofen and hand out ice packs."