Athletic trainers (ATs) are essential to athletes' safety and physical health, but they do so much more than meets the eye! ATs provide emergency care and injury prevention, but also comforting peace of mind to sideline parents. Every sports parent can relate to the sigh of relief they feel knowing their child has an AT by their side during a competitive game or an on-the-field injury.
What we're consistently seeing is that ATs are often understaffed. If they are staffed, they are likely overburdened. One study found that 31% of public high schools in the United States do not have Athletic Trainers available for students. Parents, volunteer coaches and organizations can easily support ATs through efforts such as communication, documentation and injury reporting. These efforts will relieve the burden on ATs and build trust among the team and ultimately strengthen the athletes' circle of care.
Imagine this: you're a volunteer soccer coach and begin documenting every injury that occurs over one season. Towards the end of the season, one of your athletes becomes injured, so you reference her past injury information. You recognize helpful injury trends and then communicate with the athlete, parents and ATs to better support her to avoid reinjury or prematurely returning to play. What an empowering and accessible tool for the care circle to call upon.
One influential case study following a youth football league found that upon enrolling in the InjureFree platform and reporting athlete injury incidents, injuries drastically decreased over just one season! By simply reporting injuries, parents, volunteer coaches and organizations can decrease the incidence of future injuries while lifting up the invaluable efforts of Athletic Trainers.
If you're interested in learning more about risk management in youth sports, TeamGenius put together some helpful tips to reference here!
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