Students at Del Val may have noticed a new face on the sidelines of football games, but who is he?
Paul Rochelle just started as the athletic trainer at Delaware Valley Regional High School, and he has already made a positive impact on the school’s athletes.
Rochelle has worked with countless players within the six month period he’s been employed. From taping injuries in the weight room to helping as many varsity players at halftime as he can, he is always willing to do whatever it takes to help each athlete. Rochelle takes pride in his job and works incredibly hard to get the student athletes back on their feet and continuing to play the sport that they love.
Before coming to Del Val, Rochelle grew up in Clinton, New Jersey, attending North Hunterdon High School. He was incredibly involved with their football team, having played the sport from third grade through his senior year of high school. His proudest moment in sports was working together with his teammates on his high school team. He loved to see what they could accomplish as a team.
Rochelle attended Virginia Tech for four years where he would work with their Division One basketball team in their sports medicine club. He then completed a masters program at Moravian University.
In between that job and this, he worked with Amazon for two months as an injury prevention specialist. That job mainly entailed instructing employees on how to perform their jobs safely, but he enjoys being at Del Val more.
His inspiration to become an athletic trainer began in his junior year of high school after an injury caused him to spend time in the training room. One of the athletic trainers impacted his life greatly, and Rochelle not only respects what he did for him and other athletes, but he wants to have as much of an impact on the students he treats as possible.
Rochelle really enjoys his job at Del Val, and he wouldn’t rather be doing anything else.
“Even though we work long hours, I wake up every day and I enjoy coming in here,” said Rochelle. “I always picture myself being someone that’s working in the same place for thirty or forty years.”
When he is not working, Rochelle enjoys lifting and working out, watching new movies and T.V. series and spending time with friends and family.
When asked his advice for student athletes, he said to take it slow.
“You’re very early in life, and you don’t need to know what you’re doing right now,” said Rochelle. “Just enjoy what you’re doing at 14, 15, 16 years old. Nothing right now is really permanent. Don’t get worried about being stuck in one thing and how this could affect everything else. You can always change things later down the road.”
