Introduction

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Written by the Alaska Athletic Trainers’ Association Public Relations

Only 37% of U.S. public secondary schools[1] and 27% of U.S. private secondary schools[2] have access to a full-time athletic trainer. Over 2.6 million young athletes are seen in emergency rooms for sports-related injuries each year[3] and many of these injuries are preventable. Because having access to a full-time athletic trainer is considered the gold standard of care recommended by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA), and because preventative care is a large component of an athletic trainer’s job, it is clear that these health care providers are essential and should be present in every school. Although secondary schools are by no means the only setting in which athletic trainers work, secondary school positions are among the most common, accounting for 18% of all athletic trainer positions in the United States.

 

March is National Athletic Training Month (NATM), and this year the theme is “Head to Toe.” In 2021 , the Alaska Athletic Trainers’ Association (AATA) recruited a few Alaskans who are not athletic trainers for brief interviews. The people who we interviewed had experiences with athletic trainers in various capacities throughout their personal athletic careers, professional careers, or even both. While we as athletic trainers know how essential we are in health care settings, we believe it is valuable to allow those who are not in our profession but who also see our value to speak to their experiences, which we hope will further illustrate the truly essential nature of athletic trainers.

 

Interviews:

  • Wayne Sawchuk: Activities Coordinator and Physical Education Teacher at West Valley High School in Fairbanks, AK

  • Dr. Eli Powell: President of Orthopedic Physicians of Alaska and Orthopedic Surgeon

  • Carl Arts: Chugiak High School Basketball Coach

 

 [1] Pike, A. M., Pryor, R. R., Vandermark, L. W., Mazerolle, S. M., & Casa, D. J. (2017). Athletic Trainer Services in Public and Private Secondary Schools. Journal of Athletic Training, 52(1), 5-11.

[2] Pryor, R. R., Casa, D. J., Vandermark, L. W., Stearns, R. L., Attanasio, S. M., Fontaine, G. J., & Wafer, A. M. (2015). Athletic Training Services in Public Secondary Schools: A Benchmark Study. Journal of Athletic Training, 50(2), 156-162.

[3] https://www.nata.org/about/athletic-training/job-settings