The latest staff in Roanoke College’s Jim Buriak Athletic Instruction Clinic has an affable demeanor, is exceptionally caring in his function with pupils, and even wears a lovable vest.
But after in a though, he does lie down on the task.
Milo, whose formal title is university student-athlete wellness supporter, can be excused the occasional office environment nap because in addition to getting a incredibly challenging employee, he is a incredibly very good boy. As a qualified remedy pet, Milo has quickly develop into an adored addition to the teaching clinic, in which he sidles up to pupils for animals and usually takes their minds off the pressures of currently being a student-athlete.
“I satisfied Milo at the commencing of the tumble semester, and he has often been there to place a smile on my experience,” stated Morgan Micallef ’23, a member of the women’s basketball group. “Especially when I have experienced a long working day of lessons and I am not in the suitable state of brain to have a good observe, he instantly calms me down and places me in an great temper.”
Milo and Gabi Oney ’17, his owner and the head athletic trainer in the education clinic.
Milo’s mother, Head Athletic Trainer Gabi Oney ’17, adopted Milo when working as an athletic coach at a high college in Washington state. She experienced moved across the place for the occupation and a new experience, but living on your own – considerably from family members in Ohio and friends in Virginia – turned out to be more durable than she believed. She didn’t know what to count on with an adult rescue pet dog, but she strike the jackpot with Milo. “He has been a godsend,” she claimed.
Oney, who attained a diploma in athletic schooling at Roanoke and an state-of-the-art master’s in the identical field at the College of South Carolina, returned to Roanoke in 2020 to operate the Sports Drugs Department and control a workforce of athletic trainers. She is also the primary athletic coach for the wrestling, men’s volleyball and golf teams. Every single day, 40-50 learners take a look at the clinic to do the job with athletic trainers, who focus in blocking, diagnosing and managing injuries.
Milo first arrived to operate with Oney before this academic 12 months “a small little bit as a joke,” she reported. She figured with the strain of lessons, techniques, online games and the publish-COVID landscape, it couldn’t hurt to have a fluffy animal in the clinic for pupils to pet. Soon after acceptance from her supervisor, Director of University student Wellbeing and Counseling Products and services Sandy McGhee, Oney introduced Milo to operate – and he quickly grew to become the star of the clinic.
Which is when Oney made the decision to make Milo a licensed coaching animal and a extra permanent addition to the clinic workers. “Sometimes our career appears everyday,” she reported, “but we are actually clinical industry experts, and this is technically a health-related facility, so I wished to make confident we ended up not remaining lax. He has established time and once more that he is respectful and dependable.” 
Milo normally takes a split though Oney operates with wrestler Michael Policarpio ’26.
