DCPS announces project that will provide athletic trainers to all high schools by 2020

The Duval County public school is addressing the lack of athletic trainers to ensure a safer and healthier environment for student athletes.

DCPS announced their plan to provide full-time athletic trainers to all high schools within the next 5 years Thursday morning. They partnered with several big names including the Jacksonville Jaguars, the National Football League and Jacksonville University that are working to provide the funding and training needed to make this happen.

Five schools will benefit from the program this upcoming school year including Ribault, Raines, Jackson, Baldwin and Englewood.

Several student athletes and parents from the schools attended the announcement at EverBank Field.

“Now that we have our own trainer here at the school, that will just be great for the kids as well as the coaches,” said Orain Reddick whose daughter plays basketball and runs track at Raines.

Superintendent of DCPS Dr. Nikolai Vitti said over the years, it has been hard to even get part-time trainers in the school because of funding.

“This has always been that extra cost that we couldn’t afford,” said Dr. Vitti. “Having these partners come forward and fill that financial gap and that need is so important.”