When contemplating ideas of controversial issues, I wanted pick something I was confident writing about. In high school I took three years of sports medicine classes. My senior year I even participated in an internship where I had hands on experience dealing with athletic training in the secondary school setting. I believe every high school should have a full time athletic trainer on duty. I am more than qualified to write about this research topic in my opinion. My major is athletic training and I hope to pursue a career in the NFL as a head athletic trainer. But for now, I want to focus on why having athletic trainers in high schools will benefit the athlete, the school, and the over all health care profession.

Sport related injuries are occurring more and more throughout the high school spectrum of athletics. This could be a cause of fast pace, high intensity practices and games during the season of the sport at hand. Student athletes have a high possibility of becoming injured during these practices and games if no one with a health care background is available. The possibility of injury can never be completely taken away but the chance of getting hurt can be greatly downsized if the high school provides an athletic trainer. Shockingly, only 37 percent of high schools in the United States have access to an athletic trainer (The Huffington Post). 

Why would a high school that has multiple sports teams not provide an athletic trainer? Many people have contemplated the idea of full time athletic trainers in the high school setting and both sides have been equally weighed out in arguments over this idea. High schools that do have athletic trainers present usually have enough funding to ensure a trainer for a full time position. Some schools even offer sports medicine classes that are taught by the athletic trainer making him or her not only the trainer but a teacher as well. However, this would only be acceptable if the trainer also has a degree in education. According to Riana Pryor, the director of research at the Korey Stringer Institute, small school size and rural location is also a major reason some high schools do not have athletic trainers on duty (The Huffington Post). It does make sense that smaller schools have a harder time obtaining athletic trainers because their funding is most likely less than a 4A, 1400 population high school, in the middle of a densely populated town. But on the other hand, one could argue the degree of importance in this case. What is more important, the budget the high school has or the safety of its student athletes? The National Athletic Training Association conducted a study within their own association and found that out of 31,292 NATA members only 4,474 are placed in the high school setting (NATA Mandating).

The only state in the U.S that has an athletic trainer in all its high schools is Hawaii. This is because Hawaii has a unique school system; every school in Hawaii is under the same district. The funding in Hawaii is also different from other states because it has specific policies in place. "The state has a policy that allocates funds for an athletic trainer in every high school" (NATA Mandating). Other states including North Carolina and Arkansas, have looked into mandates following the deaths of high school athletes. According to the Southwest Athletic Trainers' Association, there were 210 sport related deaths among young athletes from 2008 to 2011 (SWATA Statistics). There is no state legislation that requires an athletic trainer to be present in high schools. It would make more sense to make it a federal law and require every state to give funding to its high schools for athletic trainers. Not only would it give every state the opportunity to have safer schools but athletic training programs in colleges would expand making the program bigger. The demand for athletic trainers in high schools would ensure jobs for recently graduated students. 

NATA and SWATA are especially biased towards the idea of placing athletic trainers in high schools. This is because NATA and SWATA are organizations created specifically for athletic trainers. Members of these two organizations believe strongly in injury prevention, injury care, injury rehabilitation, and even injury education. It is only natural that members of the NATA and SWATA want to see every high school hire on a full time athletic trainer. 

High schools without athletic trainers not only have more injuries but also have more reoccurring injuries as well. Athletic trainers are not people who stand on the sidelines and hand out water bottles. These people are health care professionals who have been certified in athletic training, more than 70 percent graduating with a Masters degree (The Huffington Post). Athletic training consists of injury education, injury prevention, and injury rehabilitation. Athletic trainers can even be responsible for teaching the coaches and assistant coaches simple injury prevention tips, like stretching and useful warms ups. 

Filling every high school in the United States with a certified athletic trainer would decrease the number of injuries to student athletes tremendously. This is the ultimate goal for organizations like NATA and SWATA. This obviously will not be easy and it will take a long time for a state mandate to be accepted, passed, and put into place. If a federal law was passed it may take up to an even longer time. Finding the money to fund every single high school in the United States will also be a challenge. Maybe this could be achieved by having each athlete pay a fee at the beginning of the season to cover charges of the athletic trainers' expenses. Contrary to this idea, it could result in a problem due to the amount of student athletes that may not be able to afford this fee.   However, what is more important? Spending extra money on athletic trainers, or young athletes lives. No amount of money will out way the "what could have been preventable" death of a child.  

