During a game, he’s up on the 7th floor gym or at the Jones track and field ready to help any athlete who may go down with an injury. Other times, he’s in his office on the sixth floor of the south building helping any athletes who entrust him to get to the bottom of any aches and pains they have been dealing with. Regardless of where or who he is helping, Jones College Prep athletic trainer David Robinson serves as an unsung hero for many Jones athletes, helping them get back to health and compete for their school.

Robinson is going into his second year as the athletic trainer at Jones and has become an integral part of the infrastructure of Jones athletics. Robinson was always interested in going into the medical field, and was inspired to go into physical therapy due to his own experience as a student athlete in high school.

“A lot of the times when I see kids with an injury is the same reason I kind of got into physical therapy, because I was hurt a lot when I was in high school,” said Robinson. “So I spent a lot of time with my athletic trainer, and I kind of always wanted to go into something that was medical. So I found my way to physical therapy.”

Robinson’s typical day at Jones involves waiting for any students who may come to him for help and being prepared to assist in the event of something going wrong during a practice or a game.

“I usually hang out for that first little bit and just wait for kids to come in and take care of whoever comes in, depending on the season and if we are utilizing the field or not,” said Robinson. “So once I can kind of get through that first little rush, I go check in with whatever practices are going on in the building. If we have stuff that’s going on with the field, then I’ll end up going over there. And then if we have an event that day, then generally that’s where I’ll be covering.”

When covering events, Robinson makes sure both teams are provided for and assists any athletes prior to getting in the game.

“My job mainly involves checking in with the teams, introducing myself to the coaches and the refs, just so they know that I’m there,” said Robinson. “I check with the kids to make sure they are good before the game and then just if any of the kids need to be taped or anything like that.”

Student athletes go to Robinson when there is an issue that they cannot figure out on their own or with their coach, making Robinson’s expertise very important to helping them get to the root of the issue.

“I was dealing with stuff that I couldn’t really figure out on my own, and my coach couldn’t really figure out either, so we needed David’s expertise to figure things out,” said track and field runner Iain Blair ‘27. “He did various exercises and things to figure out what was wrong, and then he prescribed me some exercises to do at home multiple times per day, and certain precautions I should take.”

Going into the athletic trainer’s office can be scary due to the injury at hand. However, Robinson ensures that each student athlete is taken care of and tries to make the experience as appealing as possible.

“He’s a very fun guy that knows how to take care of everybody,” said girls lacrosse player Kate Smaroff ‘27. “He’s very good at being open and serious while also being a nice and easy guy to talk to while working with him.”

Having Robinson is incredibly important to the overall health of Jones athletes, ensuring that all the small injuries some may face don’t go unaccounted for.

“While the coaches have a lot of knowledge, they can’t always figure out what’s actually going on, like very minute, obscure things,” said Blair. “So having David’s knowledge can help us stay healthy and help various athletes across Jones stay healthy and improve the competitiveness of our athletics.”

Robinson is essential to helping Jones athletes compete to their full potential, and is admired by those who have had the chance to be guided back to health through his compassionate work.

“My general favorite part is watching students being able to get back to their sport, that’s usually the thrill that I get out of it,” said Robinson. “And then being able to watch the sports. I know I had a blast when I was in high school playing sports. So just being able to help kids get to that for sure is great.”