May 14, 2008

Champaign, Ill. - The Big Ten Track and Field Championships bring many national and world-class athletes to campus this weekend. Many have dreams of competing professionally, at the World Championships or the Olympics. Even though he won't throw an object, jump over a bar or dash around the track, the dream will come true for one member of the Illini program as Randy Ballard will join USA Track and Field as an athletic trainer for this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing.

Ballard has been a member of the Illini training staff for six years and, in addition to his professionalism, it's been his soft tissue work that has helped separate him from some others vying for a position. The strong recommendation by another well-respected man in the sport, Illini women's head coach Gary Winckler, played a role in introducing Ballard to many key members in the world of track and field.

After two years at Cloud County Community College, Ballard received a bachelor's degree in kinesiology and athletic training from Kansas State University. After passing his certification exam, he enrolled at the University of Texas to pursue a master's degree. At Texas, Ballard worked with football and men's track and field and was like a sponge in soaking up as much as he could and asking a lot of questions from the highly regarded staff in Austin.

"It was almost like a pot of chili," Ballard said. "I took a little bit from this person, a little bit from this person and used my hands to do a lot of soft tissue work as part of my practice there."

Ballard was exposed to the resources of those working with Olympic champion and world record holder Donovan Bailey in Austin. "I learned a lot of techniques and massage ideas," Ballard said. "It opened my eyes to a whole realm of things you can do with your hands that can help people get better."

Winckler had heard about the progress of Ballard and when a position opened to work with his team at Illinois, felt he was the right man for the job.

"I knew the kinds of things he was doing there," Winckler said. "We were looking for someone who could come in and do some manual therapy on athletes. His skills fit our sport. More than other sports, track and field is performance related. You really are working at 100 percent all the time so you tend to get a lot more of those overused and stress injuries than you get in team sports where maybe you're body might be operating at 80 percent."

Over time Ballard has been instrumental not only in rehabilitation, but also in injury prevention.

"Track athletes are finely in tuned with their body," Ballard said. "To be at that level they almost have to be. They have to know their body and know if something is not right. If they have something that is affecting their range of motion or strength output, then you can use your hands to try to correct and fix it."

"He's probably touched the lives of every athlete we've had on the track team in one way or another," Winckler said. "He's not afraid to put his hands on the athletes and do some soft tissue work, which you can't do with machines. He can do a much better job of diagnosis and releasing the soft tissues that are really tight. It cuts down our rehabilitation time immensely. The athletes really believe in his skills and what he can do for them."

"There's not a stronger gauge for how you're doing than asking a parent about the care of their daughter, especially health and medically related," said volleyball coach Don Hardin, whose club also uses Ballard's services. "Parents rave about Randy and what he does for their daughters. I have heard incredible things. Athletic trainers do not get enough credit for the success of a program. Randy is exceptional in every regard. He's open-minded. He pulls in resources, yet he has a great bank of knowledge himself."

Winckler introduced Ballard to the chairman of the sports medicine committee at U.S. Track and Field and told the chairman he had the skills that would really be useful on the national team. With the recommendation from Winckler, Ballard applied for an opportunity with USA Track & Field five years ago and traveled with the race walking team to a World Cup event in Germany. His work with that team turned into opportunities at the Cross Country World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in 2006 and last summer at the World Track and Field Championships in Osaka, Japan.

"It was a great experience, but it was a lot of work," Ballard said. "A lot of friends thought this would be a two-week vacation to Japan and didn't understand the parameters. There were days it was 20-21 hours in the training room or at the track. Had I not had a day to do some sightseeing, I probably wouldn't have seen anything other than the track and the hotel room."

Most athletes train at different places around the country, so when Ballard and the other volunteer athletic trainers see them, it's only part-time. "I try to cater things to what the athletes are used to," Ballard said. "You don't want to change things just because it is the Olympics or World Championships."

In just a short time, Ballard has gained the trust of many of the athletes he has treated. "Even now we'll go to meets and national championships and there will be some world-class athletes that he's worked with in the past," Winckler said. "They'll actually travel there to try to spend a half an hour with him to get some work done. They really like what he does."

Ballard has had the chance to work with many top-level athletes while at Illinois full-time, none more memorable to Ballard than one of the world's best hurdlers Perdita Felicien. "For as successful as she's been, she is one of the nicest caring individuals and appreciative people that I've ever been around," Ballard said of Felicien.

In all, Ballard's trip to the 2008 Olympic Games will last 3-4 weeks. He'll leave for San Jose at the end of July to get credentialed then fly into Beijing to finish that process. USA Track and Field will have a training camp in Dalian, China, where temperatures are cooler and there is less pollution. The track portion of the Olympics will be August 15-24.

"Professionally, it's a great opportunity," Ballard said. "I get to work with some of the best Olympic trainers and some of the best athletes and doctors in the country. Every kid sees the Olympics growing up and thinks they want to be a part of that. In that regard, it's a dream come true."