Athletic Trainer Erika Bell: A Valuable Asset to BU
Bluefield University has had an abundance of good athletic trainers over the years, but there aren’t too many as valuable and consistent as current head athletic trainer Erika Bell.
Bell came to BU in 2011 after attending Marietta College in Ohio from 2005-2010 where she received a bachelor’s degree in athletic training and played intercollegiate softball. She later earned a master’s degree in athletic training from West Virginia Wesleyan where she also served as a graduate student athletic trainer. She said she went to college for athletic training because of the care she received from a trainer after suffering her own sports injury.
After college and right before BU, Bell served as an adjunct instructor for Concord University. “I taught lower extremity evaluation,” Bell said about her teaching experience at CU. “It’s a sophomore level class in a CAATE (Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education) accredited athletic training program.”
Bell joined the BU family in 2011 as an assistant athletic trainer before becoming the head athletic trainer in 2014, a position she still holds today.
“She’s an outstanding athletic trainer that keeps things running smooth,” said Josh Shroyer, a BU associate athletic trainer who works alongside Bell.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Bell has taken on significant additional duties in monitoring and testing for COVID cases on campus, as well as helping manage the school’s response to the pandemic.
“It’s an ever-changing thing” Bell said about her daily duties in a COVID world. “Trying to keep up with it all is definitely the hardest part, but my role is really making recommendations to the college, and then they decide what happens.”
Shroyer spoke about Bell’s contributions related to COVID. “Without her,” he said. “we’re not open during COVID.”
Bell admits that she planned to be at Bluefield University for only 4-5 years to gain experience, but the relationships and bonds she’s built during her time here made her reconsider. She said the Athletic Department is like her family as they always try to help each other out. She had planned to go back to Ohio, where she is originally from, but the BU staff she said grew on her. She also met her husband-to-be, Stephen McDaniel, in Bluefield, which also helped make her stay.
“There are so many great things about Erika,” said Christopher Nixon, a senior vice president of collegiate sales who has worked as a vendor with Bell during her time at BU. Erika has been a fantastic partner to work with as she understands the details, but also grasps the big picture. Relationships are important to Erika, and she is a great communicator, a true professional.”