Students Can Participate by Involvement as Athletic Training Aides

It goes without saying that administrators, teachers, coaches and other school district staff recognize the value of participation in high school activity programs. Commonly, people consider extracurricular participation as playing a sport or something fine arts-related such as band, theatre or choir. Rarely do they consider the support roles that students can provide within the interscholastic setting.

One such support role is that of the Athletic Training Student Aide (ATSA) or “student trainer.” While a majority of a student’s extracurricular participation is on the field, court or stage, those areas are not exclusive ones in which students participate at their schools. The ATSA is another potential career path for high school students. Other avenues for extracurricular participation for students could include but are not limited to team manager, team videographer, team social media manager or even drone pilot.

With the support and guidance of a licensed or certified athletic trainer, the ATSA has the unique opportunity to get “up close and personal” with the various disciplines within the realm of sports medicine and fitness careers, which may lead to a college degree as they pursue education past the secondary school level.

During the past decade, the number of high schools in the United States employing an athletic trainer has greatly increased. Currently 56% of the secondary schools in the United States have an athletic trainer employed through some type of contract. These professional staff members often benefit from the efforts of students in the day-to-day operations in their athletic training facility.

Students who think that their future education may be to pursue a career in health care can serve as an ATSA. These students may aspire to become anything from a medical doctor to a physical/occupational therapist, nurse or an athletic trainer. While each school-based athletic trainer and school district is different, it is important for school administrators to have guidelines for appropriate use, supervision and education of the ATSA. A positive, safe learning environment should be fostered for the ATSA so the student will benefit from the instruction of a qualified health-care professional, while ATSAs provide assistance to also helping the health-care team at the school district.

Many students look for a place to fit in with other students who have similar interests and work ethics, or they simply just want to be involved with something. These students are often the best ATSA candidates. By properly allowing students to help with day-to-day routines in the athletic training facility, more students can be involved in an extracurricular activity.

Many schools use these students to help ensure that each team has appropriate hydration and first-aid materials available at the event or practice site. These students can also help with the day to-day athletic training room duties such as ensuring facility cleanliness and availability of supplies. Being an ATSA also provides a student the opportunity to observe the professional duties and responsibilities of an athletic trainer. This becomes a valuable educational experience by exposing the students to the foundations of not only athletic health care, but health care in general. This gives the student another opportunity to learn responsibility, accountability and time-management skills, all of which are beneficial both in present and future endeavors.

The National Athletic Trainers’ Association has an official statement on proper supervision of the high school ATSA on its website. The NATA suggests that the ATSA should be under direct visual supervision of a licensed/certified athletic trainer while assisting with athletic training services.

It is important to note that the high school ATSA should never be viewed as an inexpensive way to provide athletic health care. Neither administrators nor coaches should expect these high school students to act independently regarding evaluation, assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries suffered by student-athletes at their school. It is paramount that the ATSA not be put in a position whereby he or she is asked to make a “return-to play” decision regarding another student. The ATSA simply does not have the background, training and education to make such a decision.

In addition, it is important to understand that these students are not qualified to interpret referrals from other medical professionals, perform evaluations or independently provide athletic training services during team travel or even supervise return- to-participation activities. Exposure to appropriate healthcare procedures and professions can be beneficial to the student’s education within the context of educational athletics.

Many states have vocational or CTE-type programs for students who are interested in pursuing a career in a health care-related field. For example, Texas has a sports medicine class that can only be taught by a licensed athletic trainer. These courses are like other career and technology-related courses that schools offer, such as criminal justice. The sports medicine class helps to educate the student about the profession, but it does not qualify the individual to be that professional upon completion of the curriculum. To be able to sit for the Athletic Training Board of Certification exam, a candidate must obtain a master’s degree from an accredited institution, so it is important to know that any sports medicine-type class that a student takes does not qualify the student to be an athletic trainer.

The ATSA also can be another set of eyes and ears for the staff athletic trainer. When the staff athletic trainer is involved in an on-the-field evaluation – either at a practice or game – the ATSA can be alert to any athlete who becomes injured, bringing it to the attention of the staff athletic trainer. When alerted, the staff athletic trainer can act on the situation. These types of situations provide the ATSA a tremendous opportunity to observe how the staff athletic trainer reacts and what he or she did to provide the student-athlete with athletic training services.

High school students want to be a part of something and participate in activities where they have friends with common interests. It is well-documented that students who engage in school activities tend to do better academically and socially and withstand peer pressure better. With the explosion of health care-related fields, students can often be a part of the athletic training department by working as an ATSA and learn about athletic health care through observation. These hard-working, dedicated students who are interested in a health-care profession can aid the staff athletic trainer and learn at the same time.