Do you want to become a sports trainer? If you want to be the person on the sidelines helping athletes recover from an injury or you want to be in the weight room helping athletes get in better physical condition, there are a few things that you need to do. What does it take to get a job as a sports trainer?
Get Your Degree
Most trainers get their degree in either medicine or exercise science. To determine which degree is best for you, it is a good idea to figure out as far in advance as possible which job that you want. If you want to be an athletic trainer or a team doctor, you should get your degree in medicine. If you want to be a physical trainer, you should opt for a degree in exercise science.
You Should Have Some Knowledge of the Game
Those who are going to be a sports trainer should understand a little bit about the game that they are involved in. Although athletes have the same bones and muscles as everyone else, athletes in different sports need to use different parts of their bodies to be successful. For example, a world class runner needs his legs to be successful while a quarterback is going to want to have maximum arm strength. By knowing which parts of the body are most important to an athlete, it is easier to create exercise regimens and treatment plans to help them get in better shape or recover faster after a game or an injury.
Find a Team to Work For
It isn’t easy breaking into the world of sports. In most cases, you will start out by working as an intern or by starting out on the staff of a local team. From there, you will work your way up to become either an assistant trainer or the head trainer for a team. While you don’t need to root for a particular team or have a favorite sport, having a rooting interest for the team that you work for may make it easier to get to the arena each day to do your job.
Related Resource: Sports Facilities Director
Trainers Need to be Ready for Anything
As a trainer, you will be required to take action at a moment’s notice if someone gets hurt on the field. Having an understanding of CPR as well as knowing how to immobilize a person who has been hurt is critical, according to Health Careers. For some, having the ability to drive a golf cart could be the difference between being employed and sitting at home. This is because someone has to be able to drive out to the field, pick up a player and take him or her to the locker room or to an ambulance as soon as possible.
If you want to become a sports trainer, you are going to need to get your degree, have some understanding of the sport in which you work in and possibly root for the team that you work for. While you don’t have to be good at sports, you need to be able to diagnose an injury, come up with treatment plans and make sure that athletes are in good enough condition to reduce the risk of getting hurt in the future.
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