By MARTY JAMES
It was supposed to be one of the greatest nights of Brandon Lucas' life – leading the Vallejo High School football team on to the field for a rivalry game against Hogan in the fall of 2006 at Corbus Field.
Lucas, a captain, running back-cornerback and team leader, did not get to play in that final game of his senior season, unfortunately, as his world was turned completely upside down due to an injury that he suffered during a practice earlier in the week. He tore the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a drill.
"I was hoping that, you know, by some miracle, they could just tape me up and still let me play. But there's no way I could play on that, just because of the amount of swelling that was built up," Lucas recalled. "I knew it was bad. I got hit really low and it took out my knee."
Lucas was enthusiastically welcomed by teammates and parents of players during the pregame introduction of seniors on the field, on the final night of the season.
"Again, that was definitely one of the hardest moments, one of the most devastating things, just because I didn't get to play against Hogan, after working with the same guys on the team for those four years," he said. "All the parents embraced me and hugged me, and said the same thing: 'I wish you were playing today.' "
A few months later, Lucas had surgery. The experience and process of rehabbing his knee and getting physical therapy greatly inspired Lucas – who was also on the track and field team – to pursue a career as an athletic trainer.
"It kind of jump-started the whole thing – like, 'All right, this is something I could do for a living. This is what I would love to do. I want to work with student athletes on a regular basis.' "
Today, Lucas is the head athletic trainer for Napa Valley College, a member of the Bay Valley Conference and Big 8 Conference. Lucas works with Traci Oyama, NVC's assistant athletic trainer, in the Storm's athletic department.
Lucas and Oyama provide support for each of the Storm's teams, both at practices and games, as well as throughout the year.
"I knew I wanted to be involved in sports in some fashion," said Lucas, 30, a resident of Vallejo. "There's nothing like being on the sidelines with your students and with your teams. You are an extension of that team. And I think that's what gives me the most joy, too, is seeing my team win, seeing the volleyball team have a big rally and just change the momentum of the game. And then rehabbing an athlete from surgery, back to health and then back to being on the field, because it's then that you know that you influenced that student-athlete to get them back on the field and do what they love.
"It's rehabbing them and getting them back on the field and then seeing them succeed. It's rewarding. It's an awesome feeling."
Lucas and Oyama work with NVC volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's golf, men's and women's basketball, and baseball teams.
Lucas and Oyama are each members of the National Athletic Trainers' Association.
A closer look at Brandon Lucas and Traci Oyama:
Brandon Lucas
Lucas graduated from Vallejo High in 2007. He went on to Sacramento State, graduating in 2012 with a degree in athletic training. He received his master's from California University of Pennsylvania in 2016 in kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise science: health and wellness promotion. He is a member of the California Community College Athletic Association's athletic trainers association.
He worked with Melissa Grubbs at Sacramento State. Grubbs graduated in 2010 from Sac State with a degree in athletic training. She got her masters in 2012 from Ohio University in athletic training. She is a former part-time and head athletic trainer at Napa Valley College. She was also a student at NVC in 2003 and 2004. She got her master's in athletic training at Ohio University.
"I was just starting the athletic training program (at Sac State)," said Lucas. "It really kind of taught me and showed me how I want to run my athletic training room and it put a lot of responsibility on me early on. Working with her, we just had a great rapport. And so over the years of me going through the program, you know, keeping in contact with her, that led me to Napa Valley College to work with her as her assistant."
The athletic training program involved working with not only student athletes at Sac State, but those at American River College in Fair Oaks as well.
"I've always loved the community college setting," said Lucas.
Lucas spent five years at Pacific Union College – a member of the NAIA's California Pacific Conference – as the assistant athletic director, head athletic trainer and sports information director, starting in 2013.
While at PUC, he was also the lead assistant athletic trainer at NVC, working with Grubbs.
He currently is the head athletic trainer for the Napa Silverados, who play in the Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs, an independent summer league that consists of five teams and is based in Northern California.
Lucas has spent time working with Napa Valley 1839 FC, a men's amateur soccer team that is a member of the National Premier Soccer League's Golden Gate Conference. He has also spent time working with area youth soccer and lacrosse organizations, including Sacramento United and the Northern California Junior Lacrosse Association.
The NVC training staff provides physical examinations and baseline concussion testing for the student athletes while also conducting a background check of each athlete's health history.
"We make sure that they're capable and healthy enough and able to play," said Lucas. "We do a head to toe assessment of each athlete. We'll give them a heads up that this is what we need to focus on throughout the year, or even prior to the year beginning. We manage their injuries and tape them up throughout the year. We are present during practices and games."
The trainers provide treatment after practices, if it's needed.
"There's a lot of things that we can do for the athletes that we have available," said Lucas. "I like to be a little bit more hands on as possible, really breaking down what's going on with the body and showing them how to correct it."
Traci Oyama
Oyama is a resident of Corte Madera in Marin County and graduated in 1993 from Terra Linda High School in San Rafael.
She got her AA from the College of Marin in Kentfield in 1998 and received her degree in liberal studies in 1999 from Sonoma State.
She earned her master's from Chico State in 2004 in physical education with an emphasis in athletic training.
Oyama worked in the athletic training department at Chico State, an NCAA-Division II school and a member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
She is in her first year at NVC.
"I love sports. I was born and raised on the (San Francisco) 49ers, (San Francisco) Giants and (Golden State) Warriors. And then I've always liked helping people," said Oyama, 44. "It was just natural if I could combine the two. In this capacity, I was able to stay in the sports area. Sports was always a staple. So I just kind of gravitated toward that. It's been a great career choice."
Oyama has also worked in athletic training at Dominican University of California – an NCAA-Division II school in San Rafael which is a member of the Pacific West Conference – since 2013.
It's a very busy time at NVC, with the school year just starting and four sports going on at the same time. Oyama welcomes the workload.
"You're not surrounded by the same four walls every single day. Sometimes you're inside and sometimes you're outside. Nothing is the same and you know that it's not going to be the same thing over and over again."
Oyama enjoys working with each of the teams, the coaches and athletes, and everyone in the athletic department.
NVC also has classes for its respective teams during the summer months.
"I love it. Everyone is so supportive," said Oyama.
Oyama is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine. She has been involved with Special Olympics, providing support for gymnastics programs, and has also worked with Path2Pro Soccer Pro Player Combines.
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association, Associated Press Sports Editors, and California Prep Sports Media Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016.