BOONE- March is National Athletic Training Month, an annual event held for the past fifteen years to spread awareness about what athletic trainers do and inform the public about the athletic training profession.
The 2016 theme is “A Safer Approach to Work, Life and Sport” and it is sponsored by the National Athletic Trainers’Association (NATA), which is a not-for-profit organization based in Dallas, Texas.
The Beaver College of Health Sciences is pleased to be the home of the Athletic Training Program at Appalachian State University. The Athletic Training program was started at Appalachian over 30 years ago and was one of the first programs approved by the NATA.
In alignment with the 2016 theme, the Appalachian Athletic Training Program is raising awareness about student-athlete safety with the support of Miss North Carolina, Allie Dunn.
Over the past year, 11 high school athletes in the United States died playing or practicing sports and thousands more suffered injuries. Despite the North Carolina General Assembly passing the Gfeller-Waller Concussion Awareness Act in 2011 in an attempt to curb the number of serious sports-related injuries or deaths, many schools are still not taking the proper precautions.
Carolina Panthers athletic trainer and Appalachian supporter Kevin King helped facilitate the event and expressed his concern for student-athlete safety: “It is vital for schools to have appropriate sports medicine care during games and practices to ensure the safety of high school student athletes.”
Dunn visited the athletic training facilities where athletic trainers work with student athletes at Appalachian on Tuesday. Athletic training majors, professors, and clinicians demonstrated and discussed techniques sports medicine professionals and athletic trainers use to prevent, treat and rehabilitate injuries of active individuals and teams in our region.
King said, “It is wonderful to have Miss North Carolina help athletic trainers advocate for better medical coverage for young athletes.”
Athletic trainers collaborate with physicians in providing preventative services, emergency care, clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions. Students who want to become certified athletic trainers must earn a degree from a college or university with an accredited athletic training curriculum.
Athletic trainers are sometimes mistaken for personal trainers. However, to become a certified athletic trainer, a student must graduate with bachelors or masters degree from an accredited professional athletic training program and pass a comprehensive test administered by the Board of Certification. Once certified, students must meet ongoing continuing education requirements in order to remain certified.
Appalachian Athletic Training faculty and staff provide a multitude of services to students, athletes, Appalachian employees, and the community in addition to their commitment to high quality classroom instruction for students and majors. The program prides itself on providing students with opportunities to grow both professionally and personally.
Appalachian Athletic Training graduates are employed throughout the United States in colleges and universities, clinics, corporations, physicians offices, high schools, professional sports, and the military.
More information about the NATA is available on their website at http://www.nata.org/. For more details about the Athletic Training Program in the Beaver College of Health Sciences, please visit athletictraining.appstate.edu.
Miss North Carolina practices taping with junior Athletic Training major Maurice McAlister.
Miss North Carolina practices taping with junior Athletic Training major Maurice McAlister.