As high school students discern their future career, they seek valuable experience in fields of interest. Very rarely can students gain this insight from the comfort of their own school community, but the opportunity to be a student athletic trainer allows students to learn more about the career.
The student athletic trainer program began this year as an opportunity for students to gain insight into athletic training but offers experience for students interested in a variety of fields.
“This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy and anything pre-med,” said athletic trainer Ms. Gina Garro.
Students have also found that the program has allowed them to learn more about sports in general.
“It’s a really good opportunity to learn a lot about sports,” said senior Meave Serb.  “I’m looking forward to learning more about basketball and wrestling.”
Being a student athletic trainer involves two parts, the first being education.
“We try to teach [the students] about anatomy, different injuries, what [athletic trainers] do and the why behind everything we do,” said Ms. Garro.
The second aspect of being a student athletic trainer involves hands-on experience.
“[Student athletic trainers] need to commit to a certain amount of hours per week depending on your schedule,” said Serb. “We go to games and practices and get to learn basics like taping, injury prevention and injury rehabilitation. It was cool to be on the sidelines and look for specific injuries.”
While still in its early stages, athletic trainers are excited for the future of the program.
“It’s the first year so we are still figuring out how everything will go,” said Ms. Garro. “The goal is to have multiple students at all games because each sport has different injury risks.”
For student athletes who want to stay around sports, athletic training is an option to consider.
“Any student who has a true passion for sports should consider joining athletic training,” said Julie Warren ’19, a junior in the athletic training program at Penn State.