Faculty Spotlight: Trainer Jason Calo

If you do not know Jason Calo, he is the athletic trainer for Verona High School and has held this position for the past 14 years.  

Referred to as “J” by many of the athletes and coaches, Mr. Calo has been dedicated to helping student athletes recover from injuries, preparing treatments for ailing injuries, taping athletes, and greeting everyone with a smile no matter the time of day.  

J has been in the field since he was 17 years old so this marks his twentieth year practicing athletic training. Jason got into the field while pursuing his childhood dream of playing professional baseball. When he was unable to accept a couple of D1 offers after he dislocated his shoulder, he made a decision to pursue the field of physical therapy and eventually a profession in the field.

The preparation to be a trainer did not come easy for Jason.  He triple majored at Montclair State in athletic training, physical education, and health teaching.  He attained a master’s degree in athletic training.  The triple major required six years of schooling and 180 credits; to put this in perspective a four-year bachelor degree requires 120 credits.

J says the most challenging part of the job at the high school is the hours. As most students realize, being the athletic trainer comes with a different set of hours than most jobs,   J starts his day at the high school in the early afternoon and normally will have to stay until all sporting events conclude.  He attends countless games and events on is called for any injuries suffered as well as doing physical therapy treatments for athletes who are dealing with an ongoing major injury.

One unique experience this job afforded him was being part of the New York Giants athletic training staff while working at VHS. J was a part time trainer on the Super Bowl Champion Giants but when asked whether he preferred working on professional athletes or students athletes he expressed his love for helping out Hillbillies over the Giants.

“The best part of the job is seeing a student coming to me for physical therapy and after months of work seeing them get back on the field healthy and ready to play.” he said.

Student athletes may not be surprised to find out J goes through 65 boxes of white tape a year, each of which holds 32 rolls.  That’s 2,080 rolls of white tape a year plus an additional 300 rolls of different colored tape.

When asked if he has any superpowers e responded “I may not have any superpowers but I can tape an ankle in 23 seconds.”

That may not qualify as a superpower for some but his true superpower is his concern for the well-being and his patience with repetitive treatment for student athletes at Verona. If you ever walk into Js office at the end of the day you will see a swarm of athletes needing treatment and in the middle you will see Jason Calo with his sleeves rolled up working hard to make sure everyone receives the proper treatment to get back on the field and stay safe.  Though they don’t often get the chance to express it, the athletes at VHS are thankful for J’s hard work and commitment to keeping all athletes healthy and the kindness he expresses each and every day.