Victoria Simonetti joined the CESJDS community as the new head athletic trainer and anatomy teacher at the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year. She previously worked at Richard Montgomery High School as their athletic trainer. 

While at her former job, Simonetti was the head athletic trainer in charge of over 500 student athletes. She also introduced an internship program for students to learn about and help with athletic training. 

When COVID-19 forced athletics to be canceled, limiting her work at the school, Simonetti decided to help out the larger community in any way she could. 

“I was brought into the hospital to work. From March through July I worked about five different jobs. I assisted physical therapists with patients until that closed, then I was moved to triaging patients at an urgent care [center]. I worked a COVID hotline answering employees COVID questions or documenting their possible work exposures. I was teaching CPR for the newly hired nurses and I spent a few weeks COVID antibody testing hospital staff,” Simonetti said. 

Simonetti was born in Westchester, New York. In her sophomore year of high school, she tore her meniscus and later broke her foot. While injured, she spent a lot of time with her high school athletic trainer, which sparked her passion for the field.  

After former athletic trainer Jessica Matula left the position and moved away, Athletic Director Becky Silberman created an application for the open position and posted it on the JDS website. She then found Simonetti through the application process.

According to Silberman, the role of an athletic trainer is a little different this year because there are no conventional sports seasons. 

“It’s been a little slower than usual since we don’t have any competitions, so it’s nice that she gets to bond with more athletes during the practice days,” Silberman said. 

As part of her duties as the athletic trainer, Simonetti is in charge of running the sports medicine club. The club educates students on sports medicine and gets them involved in JDS athletics. They meet every other Tuesday during lunch. Senior Jack Weitzner has been a member of this club since his freshman year in high school. 

Weitzner said that Simonetti is doing a great job and although she was put into unforeseen circumstances that make her job harder, he likes that she has made an effort to reach out to student-athletes and be as available as possible.

Coming from a bigger school, Simonetti has adjusted to her new job and has made the best of the situation at hand. 

“She shows to have a real appreciation for whatever needs to be done and she is really good at figuring out what someone needs as an individual,” Weitzner said.