5 Things to Never Say to an Athletic Trainer

Since athletic trainer’s are in the midst of one of the busiest times of their year, we thought it might be fun to post a reminder of five things we as athletic trainer’s are tired of hearing this time of year. I teamed up with my good friend and fellow athletic trainer, Glen Snow, to write this blog and it’s our hope that you’ll end up sharing it with your good friends that happen to be fellow ATCs as well.

Are you the trainer?

One of the biggest challenges with our profession is our identity in the public’s eye. We want to be called an athletic trainer, but everywhere you look there is a sign that says, training room, trainer’s tent, or ‘trainer available on site.’  The NATA is working to raise the level of awareness about using the appropriate terminology when referring to athletic trainers, but more work needs to be done.  All of us need to do our best at correcting these inappropriate references to our profession in order to raise the level of awareness that we are athletic trainers.

What types of athletes do you train?

Don’t you hate that question?? I know I do. I have to answer the question like, “well… we don’t train anybody. An athletic trainer is responsible for the prevention, care and rehabilitation of athletic injuries and is nothing like a personal fitness trainer.”  As we know, however, athletic training is so much more than just caring for sports injuries.

Can you cover another event we just added?

People think athletic trainers have an endless supply of hours in the day where we just sit around waiting to cover another sporting event. Fact is, most of the time there are just not enough athletic trainers to go around to make everyone happy.  I think athletic trainers sacrifice more than most professions because we establish a relationship with our athletes in terms of wanting them to receive the best level of care, even if this means after covering the football practice in the afternoon you’re immediately off to the volleyball game that evening.

Because this career is our passion, you aren’t likely to find an athletic trainer complaining while rushing from sport to sport. We are athletic trainers, it’s what we do.

Can you hurry with those reports and finish them between practices?

Sure, I can get those reports done between practices. I’ll fit it in somewhere between evaluating that football knee injury, checking out that hamstring strain that happened yesterday in soccer, taking that baseball pitcher through his rehab exercises, and finding time to grab a bite to eat before the next practice starts (after all, I skipped lunch to take a kid to the doctor…)  No problem right? And just about the time you thought you could sit down for a second, here comes the AD and asks, “Are you busy?”

Are you tired? You look a little tired?

Well if you read this far you’re probably tired from reading this blog because it may be a reflection of your daily routine and the challenges you face trying to take care of everyone’s needs.  And although your job can be long and tiring, take pride in the fact that the athletic trainer is one of the most loved and trusted member of any sports team. Now go get a good night sleep, you’ve earned it.