Polk County Sports
12A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 5, 2017
Ainsworth enjoys Beavers’ run to CWS
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
CORVALLIS — Oregon
State University’s baseball
team was in the midst of a
historic season.
The Beavers earned a No.
1 national ranking and ad-
vanced to the College World
Series in Omaha, Neb. Ath-
letic trainer Jeremy
Ainsworth couldn’t help but
enjoy the ride.
“The season was unbe-
lievable from any perspec-
tive,” Ainsworth said. “It was
a great staff and a great
group of guys to work with
all year.”
Ainsworth arrived at Ore-
gon State last fall after serv-
ing as athletic trainer at Cen-
tral High School. Despite
being in a new job and the
Beavers being in the national
spotlight, Ainsworth didn’t
feel overwhelmed due to his
drive to keep kids safe and
h e a l t h y, r e g a r d l e s s o f
whether they’re a JV athlete
in high school or playing for
a national title in college.
“When it comes down to
it, working to keep athletes
safe on the field and working
on preventing, evaluating
and treating injuries is the
main focus at any level,” he
said.
During his time with the
Panthers, Ainsworth was
well-liked and well-respect-
ed by student-athletes and
coaches. Ainsworth, a Cen-
tral High graduate, knew it
would take a special oppor-
tunity to get him to leave.
That’s what he found at
Oregon State.
“It was a great opportuni-
ty for sure to return to the
collegiate level with a great
staff, amazing baseball pro-
gram and at my alma
mater,” Ainsworth said.
Ainsworth became an as-
sistant athletic trainer with
Oregon State last fall and
began working primarily
with the baseball program.
“It’s not that different
from a professional stand-
point. … Really, with athletic
training and injury manage-
ment aspect, dealing with
an ankle sprain with a foot-
ball player and baseball
player isn’t that much differ-
ent until you get to some
more advanced functional
progressions.”
The biggest challenge
had little to do with re-
sources or scheduling.
“The biggest challenges
were probably coming into
the position following up
after a guy who had been
there for a number of years
and was beloved by the
coaches, staff and players,
and getting to know every-
one and their routines and
becoming part of their fami-
ly, while making it my own
t o s o m e e x t e n t , t o o,”
Ainsworth said.
It was a challenge he was
well-equipped to tackle.
“My time at Central was
amazing,” Ainsworth said.
“It was great to come back to
the community I grew up in
and my alma mater and
continue to develop as an
athletic trainer, grow the
services available to the stu-
dents and work with a great
group of coaches, adminis-
trators, student-athletes and
their families.”
Ainsworth’s new gig with
the Beavers didn’t happen
overnight and took lots of
dedication, studying and a
desire to always improve and
learn new and better ways to
keep athletes safe. His advice
to any future athletic trainer?
Never be satisfied.
“Work hard, be profes-
sional and get involved with
your state and national or-
ganizations,” Ainsworth
said. “Volunteer and give
back to your community.
Cultivate relationships and
always try and better your-
self.”
Camp: Around 150 kids attended the skills camp
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Williams signed autographs and posed for pictures with
fans after his offensive skills camp on Thursday.
About 150 kids attended Tyrell Williams’ Offensive Skills
Camp at Western Oregon University on Thursday.
Tyrell Williams’ offensive skills camp on Thursday worked
on passing and route running.
choice, he said.
“It’s awesome to come
back to a small town,”
Williams said. “It’s cool to be
at a familiar place. I played
here for a while, and it’s a
chance to give kids the op-
portunity to come to a camp
without having to travel far.”
The camp was also a
Williams believes will be a
breakout season.
“We’ve got to make the
playoffs,” Williams said. “We
want to do as well as we can,
and I’ll do whatever I can to
help the team.”
But all that wasn’t on his
mind. His focus was on the
kids and giving them a mo-
Continued from Page 11A
Those lessons varied from
quarterbacks like Dallas
High School sophomore Jar-
rett Brateng learning how to
do a five-step drop to re-
ceivers learning how to run
routes better.
But the most important
lesson many left with was
that where you start doesn’t
dictate where you’ll finish.
“Seeing what Tyrell has
done shows us that anything
is possible,” Brateng said.
Williams had his choice
of places to hold his
camp, whether in Oregon
or California, but Mon-
mouth was always his top
break before the grind of a
new NFL season.
“I plan to get a couple
workouts in while I’m here,
but also relax and meet up
with some friends,” Williams
said.
After that, it’s back to
preparing for the fall — and
the beginning of what
ment they’d never forget.
“To see Tyrell give back to
kids with opportunities that
he didn’t necessarily have
speaks a lot to his work ethic
and him as a human being,”
WOU football coach Arne
Ferguson said. “It doesn’t get
any better than Tyrell
Williams.”
Tennis: Tournament deemed a success by players
Continued from Page 11A
Patty Youngren, one of
the organizers of the tour-
nament, said the tourna-
ment had 58 entrants — in-
cluding one player from
the opposite side of the
country, who was in need
of playing partner.
As fate would have it,
Youngren had a solution.
“I t h o u g h t Si l ve r t o n
would be our long-distance
player, but Ken Rickson,
visiting Cor vallis from
Florida, played with Joseph
Santiago from Corvallis,”
Youngren said. “Joseph’s
original playing partner
had to bow out. The timing
was right. As soon as I
hung up with Joseph, Ken
called to find out about
play. This is what I love
about the game of tennis,
people can make new
friends instantly.”
The tournament also
gives players like Sanchez
and Matveev chances to
showcase their talents and
improve their weaknesses
as tennis players.
“In Woodburn, we don’t
get as many chances to
play unless we join a club
somewhere,” Sanchez said.
“This gives us more
chances to play, and we
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Van Khieu, right, goes in for a hit on Sunday while playing alongside Lydia Khieu.
ended up having a lot of
fun.”
Sanchez said many city
tournaments are disap-
pearing, and without easy
access to tennis clubs and
USTA-sponsored events,
finding chances to play
tennis can be hard.
“Some of us, we’ve never
had a club nearby, and with
t h e U S TA , t h a t c o s t s
money, and sometimes it’s
far away. These city tourna-
ments are great for us.”
The Monmouth-Inde-
pendence tournament saw
players with a range of skill
levels competing on Satur-
day and Sunday.
With different brackets
for different skill levels, no
one felt overwhelmed or
out of place on the courts,
Youngren said.
As the tennis tourna-
ment came to a close,
Sanchez and Matveev took
a moment to relax. It had
been a long two days of
tennis — but both are al-
ready making plans to return
next summer.
“We want to have a good
experience, and that’s what
we’re here to do, to have a
good time and try and bet-
ter ourselves,” Sanchez
said.
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Alice and Ryan Bibler, of Dallas, compete in a doubles match on Sunday.