No matter what the season for the past 20 years, St. Joseph/Candler and 
Benedictine Athletic trainer Brian Tuten has been a constant fixture on the sideline. The last 16 years at Benedictine Military School. This spring season has not been consistent for Tuten. Brian enjoys working with the athletes. He enjoys interacting with the athletes. You could tell by his response about the night before conditioning, which started on June 15th. The Georgia High School Association canceled spring sports because of the COVID 19 pandemic on Mach 24th.
Tuten got back to his job, and he was like an athlete the night before a championship game. “Sunday night was the night before a gigantic game for me. I couldn’t sleep. For me it put it into perspective and gave me an understanding of how much I miss working with kids and being around them. Working with the school, the coaches and staff and everything else that goes on being around the kids is a passion of mine. The time away made me realize it,” said Tuten.
During the three months away from taking care of athletes, Tuten became a 
camp counselor in not so many words. St. Joseph/Candler Hospital and Benedictine worked together as a camp for the hospital employee’s children when the parents had to work. “The Wellness Center put this camp on for the workers and Benedictine was one site they used. The trainers just helped them run it,” said Tuten. “BC and St. Joe's Candler worked hand in hand. We would do activities throughout the day to keep them moving. And then once the Wellness Center opened back up, we, the trainers, took over and finished up. St. Joe's Candler, they were phenomenal through this. It kept us working, which was an outstanding thing.”
Being back on Monday with the athletes was back to normal for Tuten. Before the athletes returned there were a lot of procedures to put in place. Tuten stated, “We have the National Federation High School and the Georgia High School State Association set of guidelines that had stipulations that schools had to put in place before we opened up for the athletes on June 15th. Benedictine and St. Joseph/Candler had a committee that had to decide and what we needed to do for the health concerns of all, not just the athletes. Matter of fact, we are still meeting about the school guidelines and what we're doing here on campus for the entire school year because the information on the virus is always changing.”
The attitude on Monday as far as an athletic trainers’ perspective was simple, 
don’t go full blast. There was a routine to follow. “We had to take baby steps because of the conditioning issues of the kids. Some were just ready to go, but some were not. You could tell who didn’t eat breakfast, who hadn’t worked out in a while and who didn't drink plenty of water,” said Tuten. Inside was easier to monitor, but outside was different. Tuten said, “During the conditioning session outside, we had to make sure not to overwork them because some of these kids were younger, are coming from middle schools, and aren't used to this.”
Tuten has a set schedule to follow. “There are phases of coming back put in place by the GHSA and the first one is without a ball. When we come in, you go to weight training, then you go outside do conditioning and you get to do it again with another group. So, we will try to weight lift for all of our fall sports this summer. So, there are a lot of kids that will come through the weight room. We will roughly go one hour and then they'll do the 30 minutes of conditioning or running outside. The only thing different is that 30 minutes at the end will be without a ball,” said Tuten. With over 125 athletes back from a long layoff, it would seem like a never ending day for them. Tuten stated, “I am excited about being back and I’m beyond excited to see the kids back on this campus. This is what it is all about, working with the kids!”
