National Athletic Training Month Challenge

Last year while watching a basketball game, I happened to notice our cheerleaders out on the gym floor doing a basket toss.  Most of the time I try not to watch our cheerleaders because just their normal stunting makes me nervous, but I just happened to look up and see a girl flying through the air.  Now, I am not an expert on cheerleading by any means, but I do know, from working for the Universal Cheerleading Association for a couple of summers, that basket tosses are not supposed to done unless there are mats underneath.  I addressed this with our athletic director and he said that we definitely needed to look into it.

Well this year I look up and we are doing basket tosses again.  When I confronted our cheer sponsor about it, she said that she had discussed it with our athletic director.  They had decided that it was a fine print rule and that, if they were going to follow that rule, there were a lot of other rules they would have to follow and it would cost too much money.  Unfortunately I did not agree with this statement.  If we are going to have cheerleading at our school, we need to make sure to follow the safety measures put in place in order to protect our athletes.

I decided to address this one more time with our athletic director, just to make my above opinion known.  Apparently there was some miscommunication between him and the cheerleading sponsor because he agreed with me and said that we would do what needed to be done.

Now not all situations work out as well as this one did when dealing with rules, regulations, and compliance, but I just wanted to give everyone a reminder, as we head into National Athletic Training Month, that we need to remember the purpose of our profession.  Sometimes we may have to have uncomfortable conversations or be the annoying person that keeps bringing up safety hazards, but we are all in this career because we want to provide safe environments in which our athletes and patients can perform.

So this month, do not just put up banners or make t-shirts in order to get the word out about athletic training (although those are great things to do).  Take the time to address an issue or concern that has to do with the safety of your athletes because, after all, that is what athletic training is all about.

We The People...

...of athletic training, in order to provide the best possible health care for life and sport, protect adolescent athletes, prevent and manage potentially life-threatening situations, and educate athletes, parents and legislators must act swiftly and advocate passionately for the recognition of our great profession as the premier health care provider for "athletes" of every type and nature.

Today, members of the Youth Sports Safety Alliance will be meeting with members of Congress to present the "Student-Athletes Bill of Rights" and their plan to keep youth sports safe.  On the heels of a day where several experts and advocates for safer sport making impassioned and informative pleas to shift the focus from safer professional sports to the safety of sports at every level, it is becoming more and more clear that athletic trainers must be part of this equation.

Only 42% of high school athletic programs have access to athletic trainers.

This number doesn't include the countless junior high athletic programs, and club programs where adolescent athletes are participating with out an athletic trainer.

“You wouldn’t put football players on the field if you couldn’t afford helmets,” said Dawn Comstock, an epidemiology professor at the University of Colorado. “Why are you putting a football team on the field if you can’t afford a certified athletic trainer?”

Demonstrating the need for an athletic trainer is getting easier, but we still have a ways to go and it's going to take action from we the people of athletic training, as well as the athletes, and parents.  Demand leads to action.

Help create the demand by signing and sharing this petition to bring attention to our fight!

Ensure Youth Athletes have Direct Access to ATs: 

health care professionals qualified to make assessments and decisions.