It’s the start of a new school year and time to welcome your new Assistant Athletic Trainer — and for many athletes, your new best friend — to campus. Meet Bremerton native Dejah Coleman, whose favorite hometown activity is watching movies at the Rodeo Drive-In Theatre. Although she enjoys watching TV and cooking — she’s “a big pasta girl” — movies are her favorite pastime: “If Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, or Mia Kunis is in it, I’ll watch,” she says. Dejah also has a whopping seven siblings. As the second-oldest child, Dejah is extremely proud of raising her younger brothers and sisters. “They’re kind of jerks, but they’re great,” Dejah laughs. “I think they’re decent human beings, which I’m very proud of.” 

Considering she’s an athletic trainer, it’s hardly surprising that Dejah is into everything sports. “I’ve damn near played everything under the sun,” she says, although basketball is her favorite. After three years of sports medicine training in high school, Dejah recently graduated from Washington State University’s five-year Masters in Athletic Training, which included an eight-week stint at the University of Washington’s football program in addition to other rotations of experiential learning. 

That makes this Dejah’s eighth year practicing sports medicine, and she loves it. “I get the ‘sports’, I get the ‘hands on’, and I’m still practicing medicine. It’s my happy place.” Her favorite part of the job — “not when you guys get hurt, but if you guys get hurt” — is “seeing the progression of you coming back to the field and being stronger, faster and better,” she says. “I love seeing you go from your absolute bottom back to the top.”

“I’ve worked public schools and colleges. I’ve worked state colleges and D1 settings. I’ve never done private school before,” she says, referring to her masters program at WSU. “This is a new beast, and I’m ready to tackle it.”