Dylan Morgan’s goal during the summer of 2023 was to do something different. Mission accomplished.

Morgan, who’s entering his second year in the master’s degree in athletic training program at the University of Delaware, spent the summer working in extreme sports. He interned at Camp Woodward’s locations in Southern California and central Pennsylvania. During the weeklong sleepaway camp for children ages 7 to 17, Camp Woodward encourages adventure seekers to push their boundaries and break new barriers at its summer camp focused on BMX, skateboarding, parkour, scooter, and rollerblading.

Each week, professional extreme sports athletes visit the kids, who get to take part in their action videos.

“There’s a wide range in skill level at the camp,” Morgan said. “We have little guys who’ve never ridden on a skateboard coming here to learn, and a few kids, who even the professionals are like, ‘These kids are so close to going pro if they just keep at it and find the right avenue.’ ”

Morgan grew up playing soccer but always loved nontraditional sports.

“My father, who’s from Southern California, is big into skating and snowboarding; he knows Tony Hawk,” Morgan said of the skateboarding legend. “He really instilled that love for action and riding sports in me.”

But Morgan is too injury-prone to partake in such daredevil sports himself.

“My parents want to wrap me in bubble wrap anytime I do anything active,” he said jokingly. “I’ve sprained my ankle many times, injured my shoulder, and have had chronic issues from shooting archery my entire life.”

Those experiences inspired his career path.

“The athletic trainers I’ve had experience with helped me through all those injuries and worked to decrease the pain and make me stronger,” Morgan said.

Morgan also suffered a serious workplace concussion in a freak accident during his junior year of high school that left him bedridden for two-and-a-half months. So, it’s on the sidelines where he prefers to be these days. But he’s doing far more than watching. Morgan is prepared to spring into action anytime a child gets injured, and at Camp Woodward, that’s often.

“With 400 campers, we see 20 to 30 injuries a day,” Morgan said. “Anything muscle, tissue, or bone injuries come to us. Most of the kids suffer ankle sprains or breaks or head injuries.”

He’s very comfortable treating those types of injuries, especially after clinical rotations with UD’s women’s volleyball team and working with 14 different middle and high school teams at Caravel Academy.

“Anything ankle-related is something I’ve gotten a lot of experience with, so it’s become a specialty spot for me,” Morgan said. “It’s something I’m very comfortable with; I know the eval and the anatomy, and I feel confident treating the injury. Concussions are another injury I’m confident in assessing. I know what to look for and how to do the proper evaluation.”

His UD education also helped him feel confident in treating these injuries.

“UD has given me the foundational knowledge to come to this camp and say, ‘You’re hurting; how can I help you get stronger so you can be out there riding for longer?” Morgan said. “I’m very appreciative of the education that I’ve received.”

At Camp Woodward, Morgan saw more rare injuries for the first time, including clavicle fractures, elbow breaks, and worse.

“We had a child who fractured his forehead on a fall, so there’s a lot of severe injuries that don’t always happen in traditional sports that athletic trainers may never see in their careers,” Morgan said.

One thing he hasn’t seen yet — a high-stakes medical emergency.

“I’ve never been a responder to a medical emergency that required an ambulance or chopper,” he said. “Being in that very tense, high-pressure scenario is something I want to be a part of someday. They always say that when you're in those situations, it shows you just how much you actually know about what you do.”

While Morgan never wants to see a child seriously hurt, his time at Camp Woodward has taught him a lot about his future career path and made him feel ready for his next rotation with the UD women’s field hockey team.

“It’s taught me how to become my own clinician and apply what I’ve learned in school," Morgan said. “It’s helped me find how I like to do things.”

Morgan was inspired to pursue the internship opportunity in extreme sports by UD athletic training alum Jake Hickey, who had also interned at Camp Woodward.

“I jumped at the chance because, in addition to being something different, I knew this opportunity would allow me to hone my emergency management skills,” Morgan said.

Morgan said he is grateful for his summer experience doing “something different.”

“Every day, I woke up looking forward to going into the athletic training room to help kids with minor and major injuries,” he said. “Sometimes, I get to be the person that says, ‘Hey, I know you’re in pain, but nothing’s really wrong except for that pain, and you’re going to get back out there and ride a little bit later once that pain dies down.’ Or when they get a more severe diagnosis, I try to cheer them up.

“This experience has solidified that athletic training is something I love. I love watching kids try new things. There’s nothing like the thrill of a kid who’s tried and tried again to land this one trick, and when they finally hit it, everyone around them just goes crazy for them. That’s the community of extreme sports that Camp Woodward has built, where everyone is excited about every achievement, and I’m thankful I’ve gotten to be a part of that.”