Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – You might say an instructor in the Master of Athletic Training program at the University of Illinois Springfield has not only a front-row seat to history, she has part of a dugout for it.

The students, faculty including Alan Freedman, and director Celest Weuve have been keeping the players of the Women’s Pro Baseball League in playing condition during their season, which is now about to start the playoffs at Robin Roberts Stadium.

“The commissioner reached out to us,” said Weuve, on the WTAX Morning Newswatch.  “Originally, they were asking for help finding somebody.  We’re an athletic training program; we’ve got kind of the ear to the ground of where there’s a graduate, or somebody who’s looking for a job.”

Weuve say, though, there were two problems: all the newest graduates found jobs already, and high school football season was about to start. So, the program, simply just did it, recognizing it as a huge teachable moment.

Is athletic training for baseball different than, say, football?  Yes and no, Weuve said.

“You definitely prepare for a football game differently than you prepare for a baseball game,” said Weuve. “You definitely have more (body) overuse in baseball. The number one way you hurt your back is rotation and flexion. You prepare for all the things that could happen suddenly in a game. But, then, you also know that you’re going to deal with sore shoulders, and sore elbows, and hands, and knee injuries from running, things like that.”

In addition to all the work, and all the firsthand teaching and learning experience, Weuve says, watching history on the ball field is amazing.

“I’ve seen phenomenal baseball. If you’ve not been to a game, go to a game,” said Weuve. “It’s fun, and the biggest thing: every single game…I’m in the dugout. I’m not sitting in the stands with everybody; I’m in the dugout. But, I still meet people from all over the country, every single game that I’ve been.”