Tag: Georgia Athletic Trainers Association

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Sandler Named Athletic Trainer of the Year

The Georgia Athletic Trainers’ Association (GATA) announced that Young Harris College Athletic Trainer Jared Sandler has been named the Jerry Rhea Athletic Trainer of the Year at their recent annual meeting.

Sandler graduated from the University of South Florida in 2005 before moving to Columbus State University to pursue a master’s degree.  Following graduate school, Sandler was promoted to assistant athletic trainer and eventually named head athletic trainer.  He is now in his second year as Head Athletic Trainer at Young Harris College.  Sandler and his athletic training staffs have been named Peach Belt Conference Athletic Training Staff of the Year at both institutions multiple times over the past five years.

Those working with Sandler note his positive attitude, clinical competence, and communication skills to be his greatest assets.

“His commitment, dedication, and professionalism is outstanding,” said Young Harris Director of Athletics.

“I can vouch for Jared’s clinical competency but, more importantly, his great communication with the medical staff,” said Dr. Champ Baker of the Hughston Clinic. “It makes it easy to help take care of a team when you know that the trainer responsible for the daily care is competent and accomplished.”

True to form, Sandler reflected the honor of the award away from himself and focused on those around him.

“I am very humbled and honored to be named the Jerry Rhea Athletic Trainer of the Year,” said Sandler. “Although this is an individual award, the credit goes to my staff. I would not be able to do the things I do if I didn’t have such a remarkable and first-class staff working alongside me. They are the driving force.

“I am also fortunate to always have the support of the Young Harris College administration, coaches, and student athletes; as well of all of our team physicians and support staff who have been an instrumental part of the athletics program here at YHC,” Sandler added.

The award is named for Jerry Rhea, former head athletic trainer of the Atlanta Falcons, and a pioneer in the athletic training profession.  To be eligible for the award the individual must be a certified/licensed athletic trainer demonstrating exemplary service to the profession of athletic training in Georgia.  A minimum of 10 years experience as an athletic trainer is required with a significant portion of these years taking place in the state of Georgia.

The Georgia Athletic Trainers’ Association is an organization committed to education of its members and enhancement of the profession of athletic training, leading to better healthcare for the population which it serves.

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Many Georgia high schools lack athletic trainers

Research from the Korey Stringer Institute shows only about a third of high schools across the country have a certified athletic trainer.

In Georgia, numbers from the Georgia Athletic Trainers Association show athletes in more than half of high schools in the state have access to an athletic trainer. Northside High School in Warner Robins is one of those schools.

Vonnie Hitchcock, the athletic trainer for the Eagles, says her job includes more than just taping and stretching.

“We are trained in injury prevention, illness prevention, injury and illness recognition, evaluation, treatment, rehab, taping,” Hitchcock said.

That’s on top of her training in emergency care. Just by spending a few minutes in her training room before football practice, anyone could see her student athletes rely on her for much more.

“You might be the first medical person that they’ll see, you might be the only medical person that they see,” she said. “The athletic training umbrella covers a lot.”

Student athletes over at Wilcox County High School have to rely on coaches and emergency medical technicians for help, if they’re injured.

“We would love to have someone out there that’s trained in the medical field to be able to handle some of the issues that we have to handle,” Wilcox’s head football coach and athletic director, Mark Ledford, said.

Like for many other schools throughout the nation, Ledford said his budget blocks him from hiring an athletic trainer.

“If it was something we had to fit into our budget, we would have trouble paying it,” he said. “We’ve already been cut back on the number of coaches that we do have, and our budget is just enough to get us by.”

According to the National Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary of an athletic trainer in Georgia is around $45,000. That doesn’t include cost of supplies like tape and rehab equipment.

A recent study published in the Journal of Athletic Training highlights several other factors that keep high school athletic directors from hiring athletic trainers. The article cited reasons like the athletic director may feel they don’t have the power in the school system to ask for an athletic trainer, limited resources in rural areas, and misconceptions about what an athletic trainer does.

To help level the playing field between schools like Northside and Wilcox, Pennsylvania Representative Ryan Costello drafted House Resolution 112, which is named the Secondary School Student Athletes’ Bill of Rights.

Vice President of the Georgia Athletic Trainers Association Tom Bair said it highlights the basic safety requirements all schools should strive for.

“You have the right to good coaching. You have the right to a good environment. You have the right to safe equipment,” Bair said. “Most of it is common sense stuff, but it draws awareness to the need to do whatever we can, everything we can, to make sports as safe as possible for all of those involved.”

The resolution does not mandate that schools hire athletic trainers.

“It may be the genesis to a movement to get athletic trainers in the schools,” he said.

He said some schools in Georgia have tried partnering with another school in the area and hiring one athletic trainer for both. He said others rely on nearby hospitals or clinics to provide outreach services.

“It’s just a matter of being creative and working within the resources that you have and hopefully this will get the ball started,” he said.

The legislation was referred to the Subcommittee on Health in February. It currently has 27 co-sponsors, including Georgia Representative David Scott from District 13.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.13wmaz.com/story/news/local/2015/11/05/georgia-schools-athletic-trainers/75202380/