For now, long time Fort Mill High School trainer Ben Merritt has taped his last ankle and made his last bag of ice.
Merritt, 51, an athletic trainer at Fort Mill High for the past 25 years, is stepping away from that part of his job at the end of the academic year.
“It has gotten to the point where it is better for me to step away from Fort Mill and have the freedom to be with my family more and have more control over my schedule” he said.
Merritt will continue to teach sports medicine at Fort Mill High. Merritt has been at Fort Mill High since 2001 as an athletic trainer and was a trailblazer in that aspect for the school and Fort Mill School District.
“Getting to see these guys when they are hurt and need help,” he said. “You have a chance to take care of them and help them get better so they can get out there and play. It was really rewarding. Those relationships with the kids is what I will miss for sure.”
Merritt said being an athletic trainer is one of those jobs you either love or hate. He said he was hooked early on in the field.
“When you kind of have a gift for something, you want to do it to help people,” he said.
Merritt said although he is stepping away from the consistent grind of three athletic seasons and summer work, he will still work some freelancing in the athletic training field, but on a lesser schedule.
“I am looking forward to being able to say I can work this one, or I’m not going to work that one,” he said. “I can plan around what is going on with my family versus having my family plan around what is going on with me.”
Before coming to Fort Mill High, Merritt was at Ben Lippen School in the Columbia area where he was an athletic trainer and taught health and P.E. from 1996 through 1998. He left there and went to school at Wingate University where he got a Bachelor’s degree in science before catching on at Fort Mill in 2001. He also had a Master’s degree in Sports Medicine from the United States Sports Academy.
Merritt said once he landed at Fort Mill High, he knew he didn’t want to be anywhere else.
“It is a good school with good people,” he said. “You can’t ask for anything more than that.”
Merritt said a lot of athletes and teams standout that he enjoyed working with, but one team that stood out the most for him was the 2022 Fort Mill softball team that won a state title.
“Getting to work with Vance Walker was a treat,” he said. “He was one of the best athletes we had.”
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
