Lehigh Valley native returns to the Olympics as wrestling team athletic trainer

Four years ago, Shelby Hoppis stood on the Olympic sidelines as women freestyle wrestlers battled on a blue and orange wrestling mat, with zero fans in a Tokyo stadium. Nine Olympic medals was the payoff.

A Bethlehem native, Hoppis is now attending her second Olympics as an athletic trainer for the United States women’s freestyle wrestling team, and she’s looking forward to doing it all again. Although this time, she expects it to take place in a more exuberant Parisian atmosphere.

“They’re long, long days, but also you’re with good people,” Hoppis said of the Olympics. “You’re with people that are focused around one goal that are looking to support one another. You all know why you’re there. And that’s a very unifying piece for all of us.”

Much of Hoppis’ work with the team is in the medical office, keeping the wrestlers in good health. Hoppis serves as the athletic trainer for Kutztown University and has worked as an athletic trainer since 2006.

Her first “taste of working wrestling,” as she described it, came at the University of Maryland. She worked alongside then-wrestling head coach Kerry McCoy, a three-time NCAA All-American.

McCoy encouraged Hoppis to apply for USA Wrestling positions, which eventually led her to the athletic trainer job.

“She finds a way to get the job done,” McCoy said of Hoppis. “And she’s very, very thoughtful. I don’t ever remember being in a situation where she’s made a rash decision.”

Hoppis’ responsibilities include making sure athletes are protected with injury-preventive devices such as tapes, and in the best condition for athletic events. She also works with athletes to make training plans while examining them.

“A lot of that is at practice time,” she said of her work. “Does anybody need to be taped? Does anybody need any bodywork or performance care, whether from a manual therapy standpoint? Do we need to look at any post-practice recovery work that we need to do?”

In Tokyo, she also ensured the athletes were positive mentally, in a pandemic-affected Games.

“You then had athletes after they were done with media, come back without friends and family right there to celebrate with them,” Hoppis said, after many of her athletes won medals three years ago. She and others “worked hard to stay up despite the long days to making sure somebody was there.”

Now, Hoppis said she is looking forward to an experience in Paris that doesn’t “include a COVID test every day.” She described the Olympics as “magic.”

“There’s a buzz right, that you just feel and there’s excitement that’s all around you,” she said.

Much of Hoppis’ success has been alongside a supportive staff of USA Wrestling.

“Shelby is definitely more in the trenches for injuries that happen or ongoing and caring for ongoing past injuries,” said Amy Murry, the massage therapist for the women’s freestyle wrestling team. Murry is attending her fifth Olympics this year.

Murry highlighted the pair’s compatibility because of their “really strong work ethic.”

“I think everyone involved in sport at this level is there because they go above and beyond. And Shelby definitely goes above and beyond,” Murry said.

Head women’s freestyle wrestling coach Terry Steiner described Hoppis as “another coach.”

“It’s very beneficial when we have a person in that medical spot that knows and understands the athletes and what their needs are, and kind of the vibe of the team,” Steiner said. “She’s not in this position for a second time by accident.”

The women’s freestyle wrestling team will compete from Aug. 5-11. Each wrestler competes on various days based on weight class.

“It’s the biggest competition that they’ll experience in their lifetime,” Hoppis said of the wrestlers. “Getting the opportunity to be around someone that is so focused, is so driven and wants to be the best at their craft, is inspiring.”

“My craft may be different than their craft, but for me, my goal is to provide the highest level of care to those people,” she continued.

And just as she did during the Tokyo games, Hoppis is excited to represent the Lehigh Valley.

“The Valley is extremely supportive,” she said. “I think there’s folks that are just excited about the fact that like, I am representing wrestling, that I am doing those things [that] fuels my excitement as well.”