The aim of this article is to describe an athletic trainer’s job, the educational requirements and salary in detail. Read the following SportsAspire write-up to know more about this career in the arena of sports.
The job of a certified athletic trainer mainly consists of evaluating the physical fitness and endurance of the athletes, participating in the sports events as a professional or as an amateur. In case, an athlete gets injured, giving him first-aid is one of the athletic trainer’s primary job. Recovering completely from such injuries and getting the right kind of treatment for those injuries is a must for every athlete who wishes to achieve great heights in his career.
Detecting any serious injuries that are of muscular and skeletal origin, at the right time is also essential, in order to avoid them from aggravating and causing a threat to the athlete’s entire career. Thus, the job of an athletic trainer is very important in shaping the career of the athletes, which he does by evaluating them bodily. As a result of this, the athletic training career is considered to be quite lucrative these days. Given in the next paragraph are the details related to the job description of an athletic trainer.
Job Description of an Athletic Trainer
- The most important aspect of the athletic trainer’s job is to determine what kind of shape the athlete is in, and discuss the situation with the coach of the athlete.
- Since the athletes have to perform with full energy and strength at the time of the competitions, sometimes, they might experience soreness or strain in their muscles. In such cases, the athletic trainer might use techniques such as massage therapy in order to cure the strain in muscles experienced by the athletes.
- The trainers also help them to protect the various pats of their body from getting injured by applying bandages or tapes.
- Since the athletes might face the need of the services of an athletic trainer at any time, they generally go along with the team to the place where the competitions have been organized.
- There are many muscle training exercises which are taught by the trainers to the athletes, to make their muscles strong enough to deal with the stress of the game.
- The trainers also discuss the important things related to an athlete’s fitness and injuries with the physicians, so that a concrete solution to any kind of problems faced by the athletes is sought.
- They are also believed to be a part of the meetings, conducted to improve the overall facilities for the athletes.
- The trainers might also give the athletes useful diet tips which can help them to improve their energy levels and stamina.
Athletic trainers can get jobs at all those places which promote sports such as universities, colleges and even schools. In order to become a successful athletic trainer, you should have at least a graduation degree in health sciences, and also the NATA and CPR certifications which are very important for a long term career.
Salary
The salary of an athletic trainer largely depends on his educational qualifications, certifications obtained, and the number of years of practical experience. According to the sources from the job market, the median salary for a head athletic trainers is around USD 51,900 per year. The average salary is around USD 37,000 per year. Almost fifty percent of all the athletic trainers are believed to earn anything in between USD 32,000 to USD 48,000 per year. With experience, the salaries increase gradually. With around ten years of quality experience, you can easily earn more than USD 60,000 per year. You, as a qualified athletic trainer, can start your career in this field on the bright side of the USD 25,000.
Hopefully, this compiled information on the jobs, duties and salary range of an athletic trainer will prove to be useful for you. All the best for your career.