What would we do without Shannon Aberton — our beloved athletic trainer who keeps BHS athletes running in tip-top shape year-round? Aberton has been the guardian angel of Boulder High athletics for 22 years; she’s taped ankles, provided ice, helped athletes recover from injuries, massaged out calf cramps and so much more. As Aberton is such a vital piece of the Boulder High community, I was curious to know more about her life, as well as her perspective on BHS teams, athletes and coaches.

Aberton has always been involved with athletics and sports. She played both soccer and volleyball through high school but didn’t continue to play these sports into her college years at CU. After college, she began working for Boulder High in an unusual way. “I was working at a physical therapy clinic and BHS called [us] two days before football two-a-days started frantically looking for an athletic trainer… [ellipsis hers] and the rest is history.” 

To this day, her favorite parts of the job are the relationships she builds with athletes and watching them recover from injury. She said that she could do without “the smells and the weather,” which is probably why her favorite sports season is winter – “It’s always 72 degrees and sunny in the gym,” she said. Thankfully, Aberton noted that she has no intention of retiring in the near future, saying that she’ll be “running out onto the field with a walker someday.” 

The one tip that Aberton would give to all BHS athletes is to play as many sports as they can and to cherish the relationships that they build with their teammates and coaches. She emphasized that the memories made will be “some of the strongest ones [they] will have in their lifetime.”

Because of Aberton’s perspective on nearly every sports team and coach at Boulder High, she has unique insights as to what makes a strong athlete, coach and team. She said that the strongest athletes are unselfish — they put the team’s needs above their own personal stats. They must also be coachable and lead by example. She says that great players “have to be a leader on the court/field and also in the classroom.” 

Coaches, on the other hand, must pick their battles, have “a good balance between love and discipline,” and “never forget why they got into coaching in the first place.” Aberton also said that “if athletes know their coach loves them, they will run through a brick wall for them.” The importance she places on the coach-player relationship is evident, but Aberton’s perspective on team chemistry and how it can be strengthened is also valuable. She simply said “[spend] time together off the field or court” because when team chemistry is strong, “it is truly a beautiful thing to watch.” 

I speak for many BHS athletes when I say that our school would not be the same without Aberton through her constant love and care towards students. I thank Aberton for the work she has done the last 22 years at Boulder High, and I hope the next 22 years bring less stinky feet and more agreeable weather for the legendary Shannon Aberton.