Athletic Trainers are an integral part of Youth Athletics.  Certification allows a trainer to specialize in the prevention, assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries and illnesses that affect athletes.

One of the hardest decisions an athletic trainer makes is to pull a key player off the field during a game to protect them from serious injuries and then knowing the right time to let them back in the game.

Here is an excerpt from a great article by Larry Cooper, MS, LAT, ATC that details what Athletic Trainers do, why they are such an integral part of team sports and why every school sports program should have one!

Athletes participating in every sport at the collegiate and professional levels have come to rely on an athletic trainer for all of their injuries and ailments. Athletic trainers’ specialized scope of practice includes injury prevention, emergency care, clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions.

Student health and sports safety initiatives have escalated and remain in the media spotlight. As a result, high school athletic programs have undergone some major changes in an attempt to make participation safer and to ensure best practices are in place. A recent high school benchmark study published in the March Journal of Athletic Training reported that 37 percent of high schools in the United States have at least one full-time athletic trainer, thus meeting the standard of care recommended by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. Additionally, 70 percent of public high schools have athletic training (AT) services. These statistics are an update to a 1994 study that which indicated only 35 percent of public high schools used AT services. Overall access to athletic trainers has doubled over the past 20 years.

While this is good news on the athletic training front, there is more work to be done. It’s critical that school boards, administrators, coaches, parents and others understand the valuable role of the athletic trainer and the appropriate medical care services they provide. The following points offer a clearer picture of the role athletic trainers play in an athletic program.

Click on the link below to read the full article..

https://www.athleticbusiness.com/high-school/understanding-the-roll-of-athletic-trainers-in-high-school-athletics.html