A dream job for many means doing what they love on a daily basis.

For Iowa State Associate Director of Athletic Training Denise O’Mara, it’s about helping others return to doing what they love.

O’Mara is currently in her 32nd year at Iowa State and has spent time doing a wide range of work. She works as a trainer for the women’s basketball team and both golf teams in addition to teaching athletic training classes up until this year, researching nutrition for athletes, pushing for equal care for female athletes and more.

What does a day in the life of O’Mara look like? Well that is much more complicated than a simple statement. Until the day comes, she does not know exactly what it will entail.

“On a given day, I might get up and go to an early morning workout, and then I went to go teach, and then I also went to do other sports, and then I went back to basketball and then I might be doing administrative things,” O’Mara said.

In addition to this, the hours can also be tiring according to O’Mara. She said that some days she will be at a 6 a.m. weightlifting day with the women’s basketball team, and others she will not get home until 3 a.m. due to traveling with the team.

Through all of the tiring hours, O’Mara has made sure to give athletes the best care that she can.

Five years after O’Mara came to Iowa State, current women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly followed. Spending 27 years working together, the two have grown to have the utmost respect for each other.

“The number one thing is we have the trust,” O’Mara said. “I trust he has his players’ best interests in mind, and he trusts that I’m trying to do the best I can for the players to keep them healthy and get them back on the court.”

Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw, an Iowa State women’s basketball player that was sidelined most of her sophomore season due to injury, said that her relationship with O’Mara is similar to a family member.

“She’s kind of like everyone’s grandma,” Espenmiller-McGraw said. “She’s one of the best in the country and she really cares about her players that she works with.”

There is one story in particular that Espenmiller-McGraw feels encapsulates what O’Mara has meant to her.

“One time I was sick, and she picked me up, took me to Walgreens to get me all my medicine and she bought me Gatorade,” Espenmiller-McGraw said. “Just the things that she does everyday says a lot about her character.”

Iowa State seniors Ashley Joens and Maddie Frederick each mentioned O’Mara and what she has meant to them. Espenmiller-McGraw feels that the way that she had an impact on every player shows how good of a person she truly is.

Fennelly said that this shows how much she cares about her players. He also said that whenever a former player comes back to visit Iowa State, one of their first stops is the training room.

In his eyes, this shows the lasting impact that she has had on the athletes.

The best moments for O’Mara are when a player appears to have suffered a career ending injury, but come back much quicker than expected.

The two examples of this that came to her mind were Erica Junod suffering a torn ACL and returning to the court just three months after her surgery, and Ashley Joens dislocating her shoulder, popping it back into place, and returning to the game.

Fennelly said O’Mara is as dedicated as it gets to Iowa State and its student-athletes. He mentioned when he arrives at the practice facility, the one car in the parking lot is hers. And when he leaves, she is the last person still there.

On numerous occasions, Fennelly has said that he believes the Iowa State medical staff is the best in the country and that a large part of that is due to the work that O’Mara has done.

He feels that the care she gives to the student-athletes is unmatched by other trainers and the athletic departments of other universities.

The thing that O’Mara has appreciated the most is that she has the trust of the athletic department that she will make the right decisions.

“It’s never been winning at any cost, and I appreciate that,” O’Mara said.

The basketball relationship between O’Mara and Fennelly has been important to them, but the two value their off-court friendship just as much.

“Their family is like my second family,” O’Mara said. “We’ve been all over the world together on trips.”

The two have gone through loss of family members amongst other things that have caused the two to build an unbreakable bond. Fennelly feels that O’Mara has meant just as much to him, saying that he respects her as much as he respects just about anyone else in the world.

Outside of working with the teams, there is one thing that O’Mara has done that sticks out to her. Ever since she has arrived at Iowa State, she has focused on assuring that female athletes get equitable care.

When O’Mara arrived on campus, Iowa State was one of the last universities that had separate men’s and women’s athletic training programs. She pushed to get this changed, and within her first five years, the programs combined.

“I really pushed for equitable care for female athletes, and especially in regards to nutrition, disordered eating, eating disorders, I did a ton of research. I kind of started a program here,” O’Mara said. “We now have a health nutrition team that works as a group with our sports psychologists, with our physicians, with our athletic trainers in trying to get the best plans in helping athletes that are struggling with that.”

“My passion besides getting people back from injuries has been making sure female athletes are supported the way they need to be,” O’Mara added.

O’Mara will continue to sit on the sideline for Iowa State women’s basketball, teach courses or be an activist whether she gets the recognition or not.