How much do you appreciate the sport you play? You might not realize it until you’re injured and wanting to get back to playing, but the only way you can do that is by getting help from your athletic trainer. You don't realize how much your athletic trainers do for you until you are either injured or you actually are one of the athletic trainers yourself. As for me, I have been both injured and am also a Sports Medicine Assistant for my college. By doing both I have had one of the most rewarding experiences I could have ever decided to do.

Just for the record, I am not a certified athletic trainer but I do get to participate and assist with a lot of the things that certified athletic trainers do.

It can be a really tough job especially because you have to be patient, consistent, organized and responsible. The athlete’s lives are in your hands, whether it is just to make sure athletes are staying cool when they are practicing out in the heat or making sure you tape them right so they don’t injure themselves. Some people don’t realize how much work is put into making sure that athletic trainers can take care of the athletes so they can play their sport.

Being an athletic trainer is a lot of work. Just because we as athletes spend countless hours in the gym practicing, doesn’t mean that athletic trainers don’t spend countless hours in the training room and classroom. Athletic trainers spend time in the training room practicing tape jobs, setting up for practices hours ahead of time and planning for trips to go to away games. We also occupy the classroom, memorizing the anatomy of the human body so we know how to take care of an athlete when injured, learning new equipment that can be used to help athletes and figuring out what the best exercises are for athletes who are injured.

There are definitely tough times when being an athletic trainer. There is the stress from being put in a game-like situation. You have to stay on your toes at all times. In a split second the situation you are in could change and you have to be able to take care of whatever problem is in front of you, whether you want to or not. A jersey might have blood on it and you have to clean that off so they can go right back in the game, a mouth guard might have been knocked out in a football game and you have to get a new one because they can’t find it on the field or someone might have broken a bone and it is a compound fracture and you can't be grossed out about it. This job keeps you constantly moving and that can be difficult for some people.

An advantage is that getting to work during games is just a high. The excitement of the game and being on the sidelines is something you can’t experience unless you are a player, coach or an athletic trainer. My favorite thing about being an assistant to an athletic trainer is helping with the rehabilitation of an athlete. When you see an athlete get back on the field it puts a smile to your face because you helped in the process of getting them back to playing the sport that they love.

I know for me, becoming an athletic trainer is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life and I am excited to continue my schooling to actually become a certified athletic trainer.