When freshman baseball player Sean Nguyen injured his throwing hand, he didn’t want to miss his next game but knew he had to do something. Fortunately, the new FUHS athletic trainer Jacqlyn Spencer wrapped Nguyen’s hand in such a way that allowed him to throw and stay safe during the game.

“I was able to throw and I got to play three innings. I made like two plays and the wrap helped a lot. She’s also helped all my teammates cause their arms are always hurting from pitching. So she’s always helping us in different ways,” Nguyen said.

This blend of promoting student safety along with athletic success is what Spencer brings to the athletic program.

Born in Anaheim and raised in Riverside, Spencer discovered her love for helping athletes at a young age when she helped her siblings recover from cuts, scrapes, bruises, and even busted open chins.

She was also inspired to pursue sports medicine in high school when she was a soccer player at MLK High School in Riverside. Spencer remembers when the top player on the team sustained an injury that changed the program’s entire season.  

“That experience, and just loving sports my whole life inspired me,” she said. “I’ve always played sports, whether it was on an organized team or, or just going to the park, watching sports. I’m a huge sports fan and so I wanted to find a career that aligned with that.”

Being an athlete means seeing a lot of injuries. “I had a few teammates that had serious injuries, like ACL tears and broken bones,” she said. “I was always around them in their recovery process. It really introduced me to the rehabilitation process. I was interested in helping athletes stay healthy and stay on the field,” Spencer said.