Sports Training

Sports/Athletic Training Career Overview

Athletic trainers play an important role in the management, prevention, recognition and rehabilitation of injured athletes. These are the professionals often seen on TV running onto the field during games when an athlete is injured. Under the supervision of a licensed physician, athletic trainers administer immediate emergency and follow-up care.

Sports and athletic trainers also develop athletic injury prevention and treatment programs using their knowledge of biomechanics, anatomy and pathology. Athletic trainers also provide a very important communication link between the injured athlete, the physician, the coach, and sometimes the athlete's family, to determine when it's right to return to practice and competition.

An average athletic trainer's day may include the following: preparing athletes for practice or competition, including taping, bandaging and bracing; evaluating injuries; developing conditioning programs and implementing treatment and rehabilitation programs. Students who want to become certified athletic trainers must earn a degree from an accredited athletic training curriculum or meet other requirements set by the Board of Certification.

Sports/Athletic Training & Education

Certified athletic trainers are highly educated and skilled professionals specializing in athletic health care. The athletic trainer functions as an important and vital member of the athletic health-care team in:

• secondary schools
• colleges and universities
• sports medicine clinics
• professional sports programs
• other health-care settings

Students who want to become certified athletic trainers must earn a degree from an accredited athletic training curriculum or meet other requirements set by the Board of Certification. Becoming an ATC requires at least a Bachelor's Degree, usually in Athletic Training. However, the majority of athletic trainers hold advanced degrees of some sort. Some students go on to pursue advanced degrees in exercise physiology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, or recreational therapy. Becoming a certified athletic trainer takes most students between around two years to complete.

Sports/Athletic Training Career & Salary

Certified athletic trainers (ATCs) are medical experts in preventing, recognizing, managing and rehabilitating injuries that result from physical activity. Athletic trainers can help athletes (as well as the general public) avoid unnecessary medical treatment and disruption of normal daily life; if athletes do become injured, Athletic trainers can help them get back on their feet and prevent further injuries.

In cooperation with physicians and other allied health personnel, the athletic trainer functions as a vital member of the athletic health-care team in secondary schools, colleges and universities, sports medicine clinics, professional sports programs and other health-care settings.

Salaries in this field vary widely and they depend upon a number of important factors including level of education, employment setting, and experience. According to the 2005 National Athletic Trainer's Association salary survey, average salaries ranged from $28,495 to $63,568.

Career Fields/Specializations

Sport Manager Career

Sports managers work with and represent professional athletes. Some of the many skills these professionals have an learn in school include professional athlete contract negotiation, athlete endorsements, arranging promotional opportunities and appearances, individual sport certifications, legal and financial issues, recruitment, draft and/or workout preparation, athlete marketing, post career counseling, and athlete mentoring skills. Sometimes, sports managers also work as sports agents.

Sports management courses usually combine sports and business. These professionals hold jobs in a variety of businesses not limited to professionals sport teams, college athletic departments, sport communication and public relations firms, sports agencies, health and fitness facilities, parks, and recreation organizations.

Some professionals choose to follow up a sport management degree by going to graduate school for a Master's and/or doctorate, or by attending law school to become sport agents.

Athletic Coach Career

Athletic coaches instruct, organize, and teach both amateur and professional athletes in the fundamentals and specifics of individual and team sports. In some cases, some entry-level positions for coaches or instructors only require that the applicant be a past or current participant in a sport or activity. However, public secondary school head coaches and sports instructors at all levels usually must have a bachelor's degree.

Professional coaches usually have advanced degrees and/or years of experience playing and coaching the sport at lower levels. There are a number of degree programs which offer courses specifically tailored to coaching, and some of these include:

• exercise and sports science
• physiology
• kinesiology
• nutrition and fitness
• physical education
• sports medicine