There were some big shoes to fill at Columbus North after longtime athletic trainer Steve Souder retired after 43 years at the school.
Kate Cockerham was the right fit for those shoes when she was hired as the school’s newest athletic trainer.
It’s been a bit of an adjustment for Cockerham coming from a bigger school in Noblesville, but after a month into the role, she’s adjusted quite well.
“The school size is a little bit smaller here. Sports-wise, they’re very successful here. I’m excited to be a part of that program,” Cockerham said. “I’m excited to bring everything that I learned from up there. I’m not going to lie, we were pretty spoiled, so I’m excited to kind of bring everything I learned from up there and bring it down here.”
Before Souder’s departure, Cockerham mentioned that Souder showed her around the athletic training room and the school.
“He did a good job showing me around and introducing me to everybody,” Cockerham said. “He’s given me the reins. He’s handed things over to me. He’s done a great job, and I do have huge shoes to fill. Hopefully, I can do that sooner than later.”
Cockerham got her start when she was the water girl for her father’s football team from when she was 8 years old all the way through high school. She mentioned the high school athletic trainer there made a huge impact on her for wanting to pursue a career in the field.
After Cockerham graduated from Lapel in 2008, she earned her bachelor’s in athletic training from Ball State in 2012 and earned her Master’s with a specialization in injury prevention through California University of Pennsylvania.
Cockerham worked as an athletic trainer at Winchester for two years, then served in the same role for eight years at Noblesville until making the move to Columbus.
During her time at Noblesville, Cockerham worked mainly with girls and boys soccer in the fall, girls basketball in the winter and softball in the spring. Cockerham explained there were three fully staffed athletic trainers at the school, which allowed them to split up the roles more evenly.
Cockerham now will have the opportunity to spread out and help out in other sports.
“I’m so excited to be in this new environment and meet new people and all new sports because I’ll be working different sports that I haven’t worked for a while,” Cockerham said. “I’m excited for the change.”
Cockerham made the move to Columbus with her husband, Cam Cockerham, who is originally from Brownstown and works as a teacher and assistant coach at Jennings County. The two got married on Wednesday.
“He got a house in Columbus not too long ago, so I moved in with him,” Cockerham said. “I made the move and let him stay at his hometown.”
Kate Cockerham joins Ashley Martin, who has been on the athletic training staff at North since 2016. The two have crossed paths before at Ball State. Martin graduated from BSU a couple years after Cockerham.
“I never really worked with her, but kind of knew who she was. Going through the Ball State program, there’s nothing like it. I knew she would be a great fit here, and I knew she would work hard and everything just because it’s the Ball State way. I knew we’d get along just fine,” Martin said. “Having that same base is really good for us. We both know where we come from, who we had and how we were taught. We have very similar philosophies in things. We can build this program to the way we want it and hopefully make it a great school that has a great athletic program.”
Cockerham still is getting familiar learning all the coaches and athletes’ names, the medical staff around the community and many other sites and places around Columbus.
“Up (at Noblesville), I knew all the surrounding doctors and everybody to send kids to, and Steve has helped me with that, as well,” Cockerham said. “He’s introduced me to a couple (physical therapists), giving me the lay of the land of where to go. He’s even showed me back roads to get home because I don’t live too far from him. We leave soccer, and he’ll show me the back roads to get home. It’s pretty awesome. But getting to know all the new coaches and kids, hopefully it doesn’t take long.”
