Most former athletes would affirm that athletic trainers were an important aspect of their collegiate sports experience. These sages of human athletic performance have been helping their wards achieve their athletic goals since the early 1900’s. However, the world of sports is changing rapidly, and there are many who believe that college athletic trainers are as antiquated as cinder tracks or short shorts in basketball. In the 21st century, athletic trainers are obsolete.
The title “athletic trainer” itself is misleading. Training is not one of the tasks performed by these professionals. Sports medicine deals specifically with injury care and prevention. The athletes who receive the attention of an athletic trainer are often not training at all due to injury. Semantics aside, the problem is in essence financial.
Almost without exception, our nation’s universities are in financial trouble. Academic departments are “letting go” countless faculty members in the face of severe budget cuts. Public and private colleges alike are desperately searching for ways to slash waste. While these purges are never welcome, they are badly needed; and when it comes time to dole out pink slips, athletic trainers should be the first to leave.
In 2011, the average salary for an athletic trainer was around $38,000. Depending on the size of the university and other factors, athletic departments may employ several of these professionals. This money could—and should—be used for athletic scholarships. Some athletes finish their college sporting career and never require the services of an athletic trainer. There is always a possibility that an athlete will become injured, but it is never a certainty. However, it is a fact that athletic scholarships would increase significantly if universities were no longer forced to cover the salaries of their athletic trainers.
The dismissal of colleges’ athletic trainers would mean responsibility for injury care and prevention would shift to the coaches and athletes themselves. Athletes and coaches already spend a considerable amount of time pursuing their sport. This extra effort is not too much to ask when the average athlete’s scholarship stands to increase considerably at a school that sheds its athletic trainers. Runners, to cite a specific sport, would receive a priceless benefit from their newly acquired knowledge. Athletic trainers, as part of the current system, may serve our men and women well enough, but what happens when these athletes set out to pursue their post-college running careers? Suddenly there is no one around to treat their every ache and pain, and the athlete is helpless to help himself. The internet and dozens of sites such as LetsRun provide a near infinite educational medium from which an athlete can study all aspects of sports-training and human physiology. An ambitious college runner could essentially become his or her own expert, diagnosing and treating problems before and as they arise. Again, responsibility for injury treatment and prevention should lie with athletes and coaches.
It is no secret that many coaches exploit their athletes. Unlike contact sports, runners’ injuries stem from one thing and one thing only: running. A disturbing number of distance coaches encourage their athletes to run 80, 90, even 100 miles a week! Then, when their runners’ bodies succumb to inevitable injuries from overuse, these same coaches dump them on their athletic trainers to be magically “fixed.” Without the presence of athletic trainers, this shameful practice would likely disappear.
But what about sports of a more violent nature? Are athletic trainers not a necessity? Of course not. Realistically, all of an athlete’s needs could be met by local medical services—during competition and otherwise. Progressive universities could potentially create their own athletic insurance plans, which their athletes could voluntarily fund with their newly inflated scholarships. The schools could then pay for their athletes who require treatment at local medical centers. How many times are athletes sent to medical professionals after a fruitless visit to their school’s athletic trainer? Nobody would hire someone to service an ailing automobile, only to have him make a hazy diagnosis, pocket the money, and recommend the services of the local auto-repair shop. Why should colleges ask their students and athletes to finance a similar lunacy? (But don’t forget, our expert athletes will know when they need care that they cannot provide themselves. They will self-diagnose effectively, and quickly seek a course of proper treatment.)
Endurance sports will no doubt be eager to jettison athletic trainers, but what if their university’s contact sports teams refuse to part with these beloved mountebanks? In order to end the impasse, it will be necessary to appeal to these warriors’ inherent machismo. “Alpha males such as themselves have no need for a ‘special’ person to fix their ‘owies.’ You football players are supposed to be tough, dammit!” At least that’s the attitude they seek to convey: laughing at your running camp shirt at parties, monopolizing all the cute girls, and beating you soundly at every drinking game.
Finally, each university should investigate their athletic trainers. Many are lazy and don’t care about the athletes they have sworn to protect. A majority of their work is performed by student “assistants,” eager apprentices who desire to become athletic trainers themselves. These individuals may seem nice, interesting, and into the same bands you are; they may even agree to meet at the library to study for your upcoming Intro to Sociology exam, but inexorably, they will end up dating the running-back with a pulled hammy who is always hanging out in the training room, hogging the ice-bath, and making jokes that aren’t really that funny.
But what about the athletic trainers? Where will they find work? Former college athletic trainers can find work as mercenary personal trainers. With the United States’ obesity rate set to reach 40 percent by 2030, there has never been a greater need for professionals willing to charge the overweight by the hour to perform sit-ups at the local gym.
Lest anyone think me unfair, I will express that this essay is nothing more than a selfless call for change. Share it with your colleagues and coaches, your athletic directors and college presidents. Start petitions. Spread the word. It is your responsibility as runners, as athletes. Together, we can forever free the world of college sports from a sinister and pervasive evil.
--Thomas Campbell