Shannon Moose has an idea of what it’s like for athletes to have an injury whenever they’re supposed to perform.

While she wasn’t an athlete during her high school days, Moose had her fair share of those times during her training days with the U.S. Marines.

First, it was suffering from Stage 4 stress fractures in both of her feet, holding her out of combat training for three months. Then, it was a strained back during a stint at cook school that held her in camp for a bit longer.

“Being hurt when you have to be physical, whether it be for a job or as an athlete, can be a huge blow to yourself,” Moose said. “You can’t do what you need to do, you feel like you’re burdened. I didn’t like that. I didn’t like not being able to participate.”

It was that feeling that eventually led her to pursue physical therapy and athletic training after her military service. And it’s that expertise that’s helped her gain a popular repertoire over at St. Charles North over the years.

“Shannon is somebody that values connections with the kids and that is so critically important, so that as she works with the high-caliber athletes that we have here, she can connect with them,” St. Charles North athletic director Joe Benoit said. “And that resonates with our kids. They know that she has their best interests in mind, and that at the end of the day, their health and safety is a priority for all of us.”

Born and raised in Elgin, Moose was surrounded by military influence growing up. Her grandfather was a Post Commander at a local American Legion, where she grew up working at over the years. Her father, as well as her uncle, served in the U.S. Army.

Moose ended up graduating a semester early from Larkin High School before joining the Marines in January of 1999. She faced struggles early in her career, with her foot pain starting even before the end of her three-month boot camp in South Carolina.

“They told me that it was tendonitis originally, so they just handed me Motrin and told me to get back to what I was doing,” Moose said. “At the end of boot camp, there was a march home, and it was horrible. I almost didn’t make it because my feet were killing me, but I made it.”

Moose didn’t get correctly diagnosed for another four weeks, when she couldn’t even stand up due to the pain. It was after that diagnosis that she would get her first taste of physical therapy, which she would do until she was deemed OK to get back into service. After completing training, she then became a chief cook for the Marines, and was mainly stationed at Camp Bogue in Cherry Point, North Carolina for the majority of her service.

Moose was scheduled to have her final day of service in February of 2003. But when she went to turn everything in to return home, she was handed back her release papers because of a stop loss, and was instead told that she would be shipped overseas to Kuwait in preparations for the Iraq War, which is where she would spend the next six months.

“I got all of my stuff back, had to do multiple inspections, and then I had to call my parents and tell them I wasn’t coming home, but was going to war,” Moose recalled. “That was a fun conversation. They were not happy, obviously, they were scared because they didn’t know what we were getting into.”

A year after finishing her extended military contract, Moose began taking classes at Elgin Community College. She initially was taking classes to get an Associate’s degree in accounting, but decided instead to move to the science side while trying to get her bachelor’s degree in athletic training at NIU.

Once she graduated with her bachelor’s degree, she began her career as an athletic trainer at high schools, a setting she enjoyed during her clinical rotations. She spent the second semester of the 2016 school year at Whitney Young through React Physical Therapy before moving to ATI, working as an athletic trainer at Geneva for the 2016-2017 school year, before moving to St. Charles North the following school year.

Moose said that one of her favorite memories from her first stint with the North Stars was getting to help current New York Giants cornerback Tyler Nubin recover from an injury during his junior year.

“He’s just the most amazing human being, just the sweetest person,” Moose said. “He got hurt, but he overcame it, and he got better. And those kind of stories, that’s what makes me feel better as a trainer, because I had a part in that. I helped as much as I could and then he moved on, and now he’s doing phenomenal.”

Moose left St. Charles North after the 2020-21 school season due to leaving ATI, just a year before Benoit became the athletic director. She continued her work at Barrington Orthopedic Specialists and then as a Clinical Lead at OrthoIllinois.

But while Benoit never got to see her in full action at the school, he had still heard plenty about how she interacted with the students. So when he saw her subbing in as a trainer during a swim meet in 2022, he knew he had to establish a connection.

“I made it a point to make sure to introduce myself that day on the pool deck,” Benoit said. “And instantly, I recognized that she’s somebody that is highly focused on our student athletes, on their safety, on their well-being and somebody that puts kids first.”

That connection proved to be fruitful. When the athletic trainer position opened again before the 2024-25 school year, Benoit reached out to Moose first thing, asking her to return to the high school scene.

And after a bit of negotiating, Moose found herself back at St. Charles North in August 2024 and has not left since.

“I really like the connection I have with the kids,” Moose said. “We have a lot of students that come through that are interested in the program or interested in sports medicine, so I like to teach them. But I also like the atmosphere and the people surrounding the place. It was the right decision to go back.”

And for Benoit, it’s been a decision he hasn’t regretted.

“Her experience from the Marines is evident because she handles everything with a great deal of poise and confidence, especially when there are multiple things going on that need her attention,” Benoit said. “She’s really good at prioritizing and handling those stressful situations in the moment, and to have somebody like that on our staff is invaluable for our student athletes.”