On football game days, Pono Aiona, doctor of chiropractic, can be found in a clinic on the Milpitas High campus, taping the ankles of varsity players as a preventive measure.

It's volunteer time for the ex-football player, but what he does on the field is not that different from what he does in his office. The Milpitas resident treats sports injuries at his private practice in Fremont called Sport Clinic Inc., specializing in rehab and chiropractic work.

Aiona volunteers his time, while doctors from the same medical building, Basil Besh and John Jaureguito of Fremont Orthopaedic & Rehabilitative Medicine, cover the costs of supplies he uses on the players, about $1,000 each year.

"Tape is a science in itself," says Pono, who prefers to buy a pricier brand, because of the quality. "I burn through a box of tape every other week during the season ... that's just for ankles."

And he also has a right-hand woman on game days, former Milpitas High basketball player, Erica Wong. For three years while an undergraduate at UC Davis, she helped rehab and administer first aid to UC Davis Division I athletes. Now she's applying for graduate school for physical therapy for 2012.

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