During his three-year tenure through 2015 with the University of Hawaii football team, head coach Norm Chow encouraged an attitude of gratitude.

After each practice, Chow announced several contributors, with each receiving a three-clap acknowledgment from the team. Chow often thanked the Rainbow Warriors’ tireless certified athletic trainer.

Unfortunately, Chow misidentified Brian Wong as “Bruce.”

In Chow’s defense, the players and coaches never referred to Wong by his first name. Wong, always gracious, accepted a gag T-shirt that read: “Three claps for Bruce.”

The thing is, it is not unique for UH’s athletic trainers to play an unheralded role. Despite their daily involvement in treating players, athletic trainers are considered “support” staff. That means they often are overlooked, for instance, when teams are inducted into UH’s Circle of Honor.

But their value — and sacrifice — recently was recognized as part of negotiations in which “essential” state workers agreed to receive hazard pay of up to $20,000 if they amassed at least 420 on-site working hours during the two years of the pandemic. (Workers who logged 419 or fewer on-site hours would receive $10,000.) The athletic trainers easily surpassed that 420-hour threshold during the period between March 2020 and March 2022.

Trainers attended basketball practices when coaches and players wore masks and gloves and did not share a ball during drills. They were there when the football team held small-group outdoor meetings, with players sitting 6 feet apart. They were there when the locker rooms were closed and the training room was limited. For road trips, assistant athletic director/head trainer Lyn Nakagawa administered and certified COVID-19 tests for every person in the travel party. At the height of the pandemic, a negative test within 72 hours was needed to travel to and from the mainland.

But while the retroactive hazard pay is deserved, it is less than what athletic trainers are entitled. Per the contract with Unit 8, trainers are supposed to receive 25 cents per every dollar of their salary in hazard pay. If a trainer’s salary is, say, $70,000, that would amount to $17,500 a year or $35,000 for the pandemic. But to ensure the ratification of the deal, the trainers agreed to accept the state’s $20,000 offer.

Financial sacrifices are not unique for athletic department workers. Instead of overtime pay, the support staff — which includes those working in athletic training, equipment, ticketing and media relations — receive a stipend. But the amount pales in comparison to the workload. Trainers begin setting up at noon for a 6 p.m. kickoff, and stay past midnight.

The training room is available to players between 5:30 a.m. and 7 p.m., sometimes later. It also will open earlier when linebacker Logan Taylor knocks on the door ahead of the Warriors’ early-morning practice.

In advance of practices, trainers will tape players’ ankles, work out aches, and provide treatment for ailments. During practices, they monitor hydration and treat injuries. Their primary role, according to their job description, is “treatment and rehab.” After a player is injured or undergoes surgery, trainers oversee the period from onset to return to play.

Back in the day, when players were allowed a break from offseason workouts, trainers could take vacations in June and July. But now they work nearly year-round, attending every strength/conditioning session in the offseason. And while they are not required to attend player-run practices, they are available nearby, just in case.

Certified athletic trainers usually have a background in physiology or kinesiology. UH offers a master’s degree in athletic training. After completing a master’s, an aspiring athletic trainer has to pass a national exam to be certified. After that, certified trainers must earn a specific number of continuing-education units every three years.

While many athletic trainers are accepting jobs at high schools because of the regular hours, UH still has the most prominent sports program in the state.

“We do it for the love of the job,” a UH trainer said.