Trainer has been key to Pima College's run to NJCAA Final Four

The Pima College men’s basketball team has the most important game in its history Friday, and head athletic trainer April Jessee is helping the Aztecs prepare.

For the first time in program history, the Aztecs will play in a Final Four game in the NJCAA Division II national tournament.

This is the third trip to the tournament for the Aztecs, and Jessee has been there each time. The 41-year-old athletic trainer started in February 2010, and joined the team the following month for its first national tournament.

Pima was eliminated in the Elite Eight last season.

March Madness serves as a way to celebrate another important cause in Jessee’s life: National Athletic Trainer Month.

“It’s amazing,” Jessee said of seeing her athletes compete at the national tournament. “You see these kids, all the hard work, you see it pay off.”

Jessee makes herself available 24 hours a day. She has converted the living room of her hotel suite into a makeshift athletic trainer’s room.

“It’s important that people know the importance of an athletic trainer, from youth sports all the way up,” Jessee said. “Having that athletic trainer at every level so our athletes are safe and taken care of.”

Few junior college teams have it better. The Aztecs have been receiving treatments once or twice a day from Jessee while in Danville, Illinois, for the tournament.

“For us, it’s a business trip. So, we take care of them,” Jessee said. “Part of our job is making sure they’re healthy, and nutrition-wise they’re taken care of and that they’re ready to play at the optimum level. In addition to injuries, we have to take care of all those other things that happen on the road.”

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Jessee brought an ice and compression machine and manual tools from Tucson. It’s frustrating, she admits, that she can’t just head down the hall — or down the street — for more equipment. But Jessee says she’s fortunate.

“It’s such a unique environment because you have kids that still have talent, that are still trying to get somewhere, are still trying to live their dreams,” Jessee said. “And you get to be the middle ground for them. You get to work with a very competitive group that’s willing to do whatever it takes, so I’m not having to push them that much to get them healthy and on the court.”

The Pima athletic program boasts three full-time certified trainers and eight interns. Jessee is joined by Akira Kondo and Christopher Murphy, both of whom started in 2014.

Jessee attended Arizona State and interned at Phoenix College before taking full-time jobs in Santa Fe and Hawaii.

She jumped at the chance to return to her home state.

“I love it,” Jessee said. “Pima does a very good job. The athletic director respects the athletic world so much. He does a great job of supporting us.”

And she will continue to care for the men’s basketball team in Illinois as the Aztecs try to win a national championship. Jessee said the trip has been satisfying so far. Just the other day, she beamed while watching Aztecs standout Keven Biggs sign autographs. Biggs missed all of last season with an injury only to return, with Jessee’s help.

He scored a game-high 34 points in the quarterfinals to lead the Aztecs.

“That’s the most rewarding part of my job,” Jessee said. “And the part I love to see.”