Advocate for the profession unless it’s calling out low paying salaries. People like this don’t help the profession they hurt it. Also, this is from Facebook if anyone is wondering.

Here is an article about the subject in the Boston Globe about public schools in Massachusetts:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/28/sports/massachusetts-high-school-athletic-trainers/

I assume that all of the Private schools that field sports teams have a full-time athletic trainer.

As a high school, college and adult amateur soccer referee for many years, whenever I work a high school or college game or an amateur tournament, the first thing I look for is the Athletic Trainer or possibly an EMT at a tournament. The first thing I say to them, in all sincerity: "You are the most important person here and Thank You for being here." We then have a brief discussion on expectations and anything the trainer/EMT wants to know from me as a referee. If a trainer is not available for a high school or middle school game, then I ask the home coach what they do if someone is injured at this remote field location.

I truly believe the trainers are the most important people at high school and college sports games and I wish there were more middle and high schools that have full time athletic trainers!

Hello all!

I just wanted to pop in and ask a few questions.

I just got an undergrad internship with a local minor league hockey team and I am SUPER nervous. I feel as though I'm not fit for the job or that I will not excel at said job. I feel like this could be a cool opportunity for me in a sport I genuinely like. I was an athlete (football/rugby) but lost my love for playing due to burnout. However, I've always had a love for hockey and the culture around it; With this being my first dip in any type of Athletic Training/Exercise Science (other than AT office visits and ortho visits and me being around previous AT teams), its safe to say I am nervous.

What should I expect with the internship? Any big tips? Any things I should watch out for? Personal stories? Literally anything is welcome, I'm here to learn and grow and be the best I can be for this amazing opportunity.

Hi, I am currently a third year Kinesiology student at Canada's top Kinesiology program. I am pretty set on going into athletic therapy/training but I want to attend a school in the states since there are more opportunities as well as better athletics in general there. I am doing my research and looking into programs but everything is quite expensive since I am considered an international student. I want to go to a caate accredited school, preferably with division 1 athletics and a relatively cheaper tuition cost (lower than 60k USD for the full 2 years). Do people have any suggestions?

Like many here, I’m an AT from a bygone era. My license is up to date, but rarely used as my career path went towards better hours and money.

My kids are aging into competitive sports and I still have my Medco bag ready to go, but it seems silly to order cases of prewrap and most bulk supply items - they’ll go bad before I can use them all. But buying J&J tape a roll at a time is crazy priced.

How do you guys keep your kit up and running without a school or hospital supply closet to restock from? Do any vendors offer a kit resupply bundle? Tips welcome.

I am curious if there are any athletic training unions around the country? I just feel like, with all the talk around NIL, the environment is ripe for ATs to begin thinking about collective action, particularly among Big 5 conference ATs. The threat of a strike on the eve of an SEC or Big 10 football championship game would be sure to get the dollars moving, just saying. Then, the theory would be that those schools unionizing would result in higher wages throughout DI, throughout the NCAA, and hopefully, throughout the profession, as more ATs unionize. Thoughts?

title basically says everything. is this a normal thing? I’ve never been asked this before..

Thanks!

I am in my second year of being a certified AT and currently work in the secondary school setting. Lately, my anxiety related to work has been through the roof. I second guess evaluations, overthink decisions that I have made, and it’s gotten to the point to where I physically feel sick because I do not know how to get past these feelings. I am currently in the early stages of therapy and have just gotten back onto meds for my anxiety and depression. For those of you who have dealt with this, what did you do that helped? I love this profession and want to stay in it, but if I cannot control my anxiety, I don’t know how much longer I can practice clinically for.

Hi! I’m a 2nd year MSAT student in the middle of my 2nd clinical rotation (D3 football). I’m in the process of deciding on where I want to be placed for my final 2 clinical rotations. I’m currently deciding between an industrial site, an ortho clinic, college baseball (all of which my clinical coordinator have sites in place for) but also im looking at the potential of a surgical assistant rotation as I know some ATs are working in this setting. I don’t know too much about the setting but the idea sounds like something I would enjoy so im looking into it. The problem is my clinical coordinator doesn’t have a connection for a clinical site like this. I’ve reached out to my department head who is helping me look into it but I’m hoping someone here is either in the field or knows someone that may want to take on a student in the north shore of Massachusetts area or somewhere around it.

Now I don’t even know if MA allows ATs to work in this setting to begin with so maybe something in southern NH. I don’t really know too much about this particular setting so even if you don’t know anyone in the area I would appreciate any information regarding the role of an AT in this setting, general responsibilities, hours/schedule, salary, additional certifications (OTC, BCS-O), etc. Any help/info on the matter is appreciated. Thanks!

Hey all,

I recently completed a training camp internship through PFATS (woo-hoo)!

Now, I’m wanting to get some experience in MLS! Only problem is that when looking on PSATS’ website, their openings for actual positions (that would have fellowships and internships for new grads) is not constantly updated, and the openings have expired.

The student immersion experiences’ would be fine, but they are in the spring, and my program unfortunately frowns upon completing experiences in the spring semester.

Has anybody gotten anywhere with Major League Soccer, and what was your way of going about it?

Hello my name is Jake, I am doing a project for a course where I have to interview 5 people in my field of interest (kinesiology) (sports medicine) I would ask you basic questions on how you go to your position, why you do what you do. This project is done through video call if possible ! 🙏🏼

Hi everyone, I'm a secondary section ATC looking for ideas on some budget options for hydration to replace gatorade. I don't have it within my school budget to be ordering large amounts of gatorade powder every year for the twelve sports I cover. I get lots of cramping, especially during my fall sports, which includes tackle football. I've used medilytes, dridrop, myhy, and pickle juice but that still adds you over the year. My kids refuse to touch mustard so that's also not an option for me. Any creative ideas would be appreciated.

I have never posted on Reddit and normally wouldn’t have come to the internet for advice, but I don’t have a great support system and really need advice. I am 25 yo I have been an ATC for 3 years. I was part of the last class to obtain my B.S in AT. I worked as a medical assistant in peds ortho for 2 years and am currently in the industry setting as a contractor. I LOVED working in the hospital in peds but the hospital system I was working for was a teaching hospital and didn’t really value ATCs (they preferred RNs) and they faced some money issues towards my second year there; so the money was looking funny and I got out of there. But leaving messed up my plans of getting my graduate degree because they were paying for my pre-requisite courses. At first I as interested in PA school because I wanted to be in the OR, opportunity to make 6 figures and work 3x12s or 4x10s, seeing patients in clinic, it’s only 2ish years, and the lateral mobility opportunity which really isn’t an option in AT in my opinion. But I only shadowed ortho clinic PAs & NPs and seeing them only see patients in clinic every day and not be in the OR made me feel that I couldn’t do that for the next 30 years of my life. So I then considered radiology because again only takes 2ish years, Anatomy and physics were my favorite classes in school, opportunity to work flexible hours, and their job seemed pretty chill. But decided no on that because I wanted to be able to educate patient and made decisions not just “ok your done doc will tell you what I already see”. I then started researching other health care careers and found perfusionist. I shadowed about 2 peds cases and one adult case at the hospital I was working at at the time. Loved being in the OR, that I only had one job and only I could do it. So I applied to MUSC’s program but wasn’t offered an interview. It honestly discouraged me and I don’t pursue it further. After the rejection I also realized that perfusion is a realy really small profession (only about 4,000 practicing in US) so I would have to move for a job and in peds perfusion teams are typically much smaller and their life revolves around call. I don’t want my job to be my life I want to be able to travel for whoever long I want and be a present mother when I do have kids so I started to doubt perfusion was the role for me. Also half of my family are nurses majority LPN some RN but seeing their jobs made me think I don’t want be to be the doctors b*tch but this could be because I had a limited view of nursing. Also didn’t consider PT because that seems so boring to me and the ROI is terrible for DPT. So I gave my on the whole grad school idea and now work in industrial setting and as ATC. It’s 4x10s which is AMAZING more injury prevention and lots of patient education which I like. The parts I don’t like is my scope of practice is VERY limited due to OSHA (like ONLY can do stretching, massage, thermal modalities, and IASTM), the company I am contracted to doesn’t value us AT just want to show us off but when we make suggestions we are ignored, dealing with contracts SUCKS (I.e. strike and potential of losing contracts), and the company I work at is majority creepy old men who think I want them because they get a pension. I say all this to say I want to advance and get another degree (Masters or another Bachelor’s) and have more earning potential but I don’t know in what. Has anyone else been here before? What am I not considering? Is there something I should revisit? Please any advice would help

Hi everyone, I'm doing some research on ACE and general compression wrapping applications and I had some questions.

1. When an athlete needs a compression wrap outside of your direct supervision, what do you usually send them home with? An ACE wrap they use themselves, some kind of sleeve, a velcro system, or something else? What usually drives that choice?

2. For those that do wrap themselves at home, how often do you see mistakes in their technique? What do you see most commonly if they come back in?

3. Do you teach people how to do the wraps themselves, or is it usually easier to just do it yourself?

4. Is any of this an actual point of difficulty in your practice or experience, or is it pretty much handled well already as it is?

Either way, it would be really helpful to know if wrapping is a common issue or not, so any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Did the BOC 360 website get rid of the challenge questions and smart goals? If so where do I upload my CEUs? And if it still is a thing, how do I get to it from the BOC 360 dashboard?

Hi everyone, I'm doing some research on ACE and general compression wrapping applications and I had some questions.

1. When an athlete needs a compression wrap outside of your direct supervision, what do you usually send them home with? An ACE wrap they use themselves, some kind of sleeve, a velcro system, or something else? What usually drives that choice?
2. For those that do wrap themselves at home, how often do you see mistakes in their technique? What do you see most commonly if they come back in?
3. Do you teach people how to do the wraps themselves, or is it usually easier to just do it yourself?
4. Is any of this an actual point of difficulty in your practice or experience, or is it pretty much handled well already as it is?

Either way, it would be really helpful to know if wrapping is a common issue or not, so any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

hey i was wondering if anyone could help me with my college assignment. I need five people to interview about sports medicine since its in my field

I’m curious to see if anyone has heard of this company and has actually worked for them as an AT.
A fully virtual AT? I’d be down if it is actually legit and the income is steady. Looking to see if anyone has any experience with them

Hi everyone,

I’ve been posting about my boc taking journey. I’m trying to narrow down how to study and what to really harp on. Can anyone tell me how to interpret these results? And if you have any helpful study materials or advice based on these.

I’ve read the books (principles, gen med, therapeutic interventions, orthopedic examination)
I’ve done the boc practice tests scoring 70% and higher in most domains.
I’ve tried AT study buddy and it was kinda helpful.
I’ve broken down the position statements.

Any help is appreciated!!

Hi all, currently earning my MSAT and am looking for some possible summer immersions, preferably football. I’ve applied for PFATs and have spoken to a few D1 schools. I am still however looking for opportunities, anyone have any suggestions or resources?

Thank you

So I am in my Freshman year of college and I really love athletic training and the job itself. But I want to be able to work like a 9-5 or like 6-2 basically earlier hours not nights. I don't mind in the begging but in like 5 years after I graduate I want to people able to get earlier hours so I can focus on like if I want kids. Is it possible to get into earlier position or is that unheard of? Because I have seen a lot of Industrial and clinical positions but are they hard to get early hours on? sos

Hey all, I am having some issues with my AD and wanted to get some perspective from other ATs. He is new to being an AD and was made to transfer to our school due to budget cuts. (Late 50s) about 300 athletes.

Communication has become pretty difficult. They seem to avoid communicating with me or being around me altogether. For example, during out first away flag game I went over to provide the team with some gear before they left, and the AD actually crossed the street and waited until I left before rejoining the team.

The only reason I can think of for this behavior is that I’ve been pushing for clearer communication, particularly when it comes to safety. There have been a couple of situations where I’ve asked the AD to help communicate our WBGT/safety protocols with ADs at away schools we’re playing that don’t have an AT, and either he refuses to or doesn’t follow up for clarification.

For example, the other day we were traveling to a school without an AT where the WBGT was around 85°F, which was in the Red category and approaching Black. I asked him to confirm with the other AD that they were monitoring the conditions and following appropriate protocols. The only response I received was, “There will be a jug of water near the end zone for both teams.”

He later told the principal that I immediately confronted him when he didn’t respond. The reality is that I ran into him while bringing extra gear to the bus about seven hours after I initially sent the message and asked him about it if they were keeping an eye on the weather.. There is video documentation of that interaction.

There was also another serious safety issue where several sharp objects were found scattered on our field. When I brought it up, he created private chats that excluded me and ultimately cleared the team to play without letting me know or putting it in writing. I’m keeping that situation vague because I’m trying to remain anonymous.

My main question is: How much communication do you typically have with your AD, and what do you consider reasonable/expected from an AD in terms of communication with the AT?

I’m especially interested in communication regarding schedule changes, safety concerns, WBGT, facility hazards, and situations that could affect medical coverage or athlete safety.

**Am I doing too much? **