The ISU hockey team has plenty of talent up and down their roster. The team is coached by one of the finest staffs in college hockey. According to the players, however, their impressive success rate over the past three years would not be nearly as high without the contributions of Chad Kinart.

“Without Chad, half of us probably wouldn’t even be skating,” ISU defenseman Bob Dressel said, “we’d just be limping around.”

Kinart, 22, is the head trainer for the ISU hockey team. Kinart’s interest in sports and science led him to pursue a degree in athletic training.

“I’ve played sports all my life,” Kinart said. “My interest in science kind of pulled me to it. I’ve always excelled in science.”

According to Kinart, his job entails “everything” to do with the ISU hockey players.

“My main job is the prevention of injuries,” Kinart said. “Once somebody sustains an injury, it’s my job to help them recover and get back to where they were physically.”

While these are duties that many people would associate with an athletic trainer, Kinart takes his job much farther. He routinely checks all of the player’s equipment to ensure the safety of the Cyclone squad.

Kinart also utilizes an injury tracking system used by all ISU varsity sports that allows him to identify certain practice procedures that present physical dangers to the players.

While Kinart is technically a trainer for all varsity sports, hockey holds a special place for the Ames native.

“I played hockey and my brother plays,” Kinart said. “I knew some of the players like (Brian) Wierson, (Rusty) Crawford and (Chris) Sprong from high school.”

Kinart went on to say that the ISU hockey team is a “close-knit polite group of guys” and that they make his job much easier than it might be.

“They’re really good about coming to me when they have an injury,” Kinart said. “Sometimes the travel stinks, but the interaction with the players and the experience makes it worth it.”

Kinart puts in up to 50 hours a week when both football and hockey are in season along with 12 hours of classes.

He hopes that all of his hard work will help land him a full-time trainer’s position at the college level or higher.

“I’d like to stay in hockey or maybe go with an extreme sport like motocross,” Kinart said. Kinart’s experience and enthusiasm should be welcomed wherever he chooses to go.