A study recently showed that more than half of California schools either don’t have an athletic trainer who’s fully qualified or don’t employ one at all.
Another recent study reveals that this issue is not just prevalent in California.
It found that 34% of public and private high schools in the U.S. have no access to an athletic trainer. Also, 47% of schools that have access to athletic trainers only received part-time services.
“School districts, school education boards, state legislators and state athletic associations continue to take a reactive, rather than proactive, approach to addressing safety concerns,” Robert Huggins, the lead author of the study, said in a statement.
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Similar to the study conducted for California, across the United States there is a difference in care between private and public schools. Among private schools, 45% had no access to an athletic trainer. For public schools, that number is at 31%.
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“The safety of student athletes must be the top priority for schools with athletic programs, not just in rhetoric, but in allocation of resources to put the appropriate personnel in place,” NATA President Tory Lindley said in a statement.
The study was conducted by the Korey Stringer Institute. It was published in the Journal of Athletic Training, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s (NATA) scientific publication.