INGOLSTADT, GERMANY – You typically don’t think of a world traveler to be an athletic trainer based out of the northern most city in Michigan, but Certified Athletic Trainer Brian Brewster is just that.
Brewster is the head athletic trainer for the
men’s U.S. In-line Hockey Team. The team is playing in the
world championships beginning June 1 in Ingolstadt, Germany.
“I’m really excited to be able to do this,” said Brewster, who also worked with the
U.S. Sled Hockey Team from 2007 to 2011, where he was part of championship teams during the 2009 World Championships and 2010 Paralympics games in Vancouver.
Brewster, a Portage Health employee, spends his winter as head athletic trainer with the
Michigan Tech hockey team, and was grateful to have this opportunity, which allows him to travel to his fourth different country with a national team.
“It’s like any other team I’ve worked with, but we get to travel all over the world,” said Brewster. “These guys are playing for our country, and I’m right here with them wearing a USA polo shirt, helping out as we represent our country.”
The sport is similar to ice hockey, with one less player per team playing at a time, no off-sides rule and no checking.
“It’s a very fast game with a lot of scoring,” Brewster said. “It’s a fun game to watch.”
The team begins Friday against Germany, and then plays Slovenia Saturday and Canada Sunday. Elimination games begin next week. USA is ranked No. 2 going into the tournament, which also features the Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland and Great Britain.
See the full schedule here.
Calumet native and Michigan Tech graduate Corey Rastello is also working with the team as equipment manager. Rastello is the equipment manager for the Providence College Div. 1 hockey team in Providence, Rhode Island.
Live streaming of all games can be found at
http://www.inlinewm.de.