What is athletic training? Part 3: Job Opportunities

Athletic trainers (ATs) play a vital role in ensuring the safety and well-being of athletes at all levels of competition and active individuals. These healthcare professionals work to prevent injuries, provide immediate care when injuries occur, and assist in the rehabilitation process.

“Where do athletic trainers work?” is a common question if you're interested in pursuing a career as an AT so you may be wondering what kind of job opportunities are available to you. In this blog, part 3 of our series, we’ll be exploring some of the potential career paths for ATs.

• Sports Organizations

One of the most common opportunities for ATs is with sports teams at all levels, from youth leagues to high schools to professional organizations. ATs who work with sports teams are responsible for preventing and treating injuries, designing rehabilitation programs, and working closely with coaches and team physicians to ensure the overall health and safety of the athletes.

This is what is referred to as the "traditional" setting in athletic training because it is the origin of where the profession got started. Most professional sports teams across all settings have access to an athletic trainer, whereas, when you go down from the professional to the amateur level, access to athletic training services dwindles. It is estimated that only 66% of high schools have any access to an athletic trainer. At the youth level, most organizations operate with no access to an athletic trainer.

To learn about the opportunities we offer in the secondary setting, visit our website HERE.

• Colleges and Universities

ATs may also find employment at the collegiate level, working with student-athletes across a variety of sports. In this setting, athletic trainers may have additional responsibilities beyond injury prevention and treatment, such as working with athletes to improve their performance, developing nutrition plans, and creating strength and conditioning programs.

This setting is one of the most popular for athletic trainers to work in, as the number of jobs available is one of the highest. Most colleges and universities have athletic trainers for every single sports team, with Division I schools having as many as 6 who work with football alone.

Historically, these have also been some of the most sought-after positions, because they are abundantly available, but have prestige associated with them. Despite the honor that working for a major university might provide, the salaries, historically, have not aligned. As a result, securing a position at a community college has actually been found to be one of the greatest balances between compensation and work demand.

• Hospitals and Rehabilitation Clinics

ATs can also find work in hospitals and clinics, providing rehabilitation services to patients who have suffered sports-related or other injuries. In this setting, ATs work alongside physicians and other healthcare professionals to design and implement treatment plans that promote healing and recovery.

These positions emerged as the physicians and other healthcare providers who worked alongside athletic trainers in the traditional setting saw the value of their services. They began "poaching" ATs from the athletic settings to work in-office as an extension of their physician services. This setting is a much slower pace than the traditional athletics population and can sometimes include a completely different demographic, geriatric, for example.

Athletic Trainers who gravitate towards this setting are usually looking for a regular work schedule that aligns with doctor's office hours, instead of the irregularity of a sports schedule.

In rehabilitation clinics, ATs provide treatment and rehab services to patients who have suffered injuries or who have chronic conditions that affect their mobility and physical health.

This setting can be similar to hospitals and clinics but focuses more so on the rehabilitation aspect than the evaluation and diagnoses or treatment aspects of our work. Those athletic trainers who prefer more of the post-surgical patient population where they get to work alongside them during recovery do best in these settings. This function of the athletic trainer most closely mirrors a physical therapist, though the scope of services still differs significantly, as the physical therapist is typically focused on activities of daily life, whereas the athletic trainer seeks to return someone back to play.

• Corporate Wellness Programs/Industrial Setting

Some companies offer corporate wellness programs to their employees and may employ ATs to lead fitness classes, provide injury prevention and treatment services, and develop overall wellness plans for employees. 

This is one of the newer settings in athletic training, emerging in the mid to late 2010s and really becoming prominent as a result of the pandemic. When corporations in manufacturing, production, and warehousing realized the value of having an onsite ergonomic specialist who can also treat and manage injuries, this sector exploded.

Corporations like Boeing, Amazon, Costco, Disneyland, and more have all brought on athletic trainers to minimize their worker’s comp insurance costs. These programs have proven to be highly effective at lowering costs, which only further increases the demand for athletic trainers in this space.

• Military and Government Agencies

Employment with military and government agencies is another avenue for ATs who want to work with the “tactical athlete”.

In this setting, they provide injury prevention and treatment services to active duty military personnel, police officers, and other first responders.

Though athletic trainers have been working inside smaller branches of the military, such as the Marines, for over a decade, the emergence of the H2F program in the army has exploded the number of ATs who are being employed in this setting. It is estimated that over 600 positions will be created in this branch alone, with Air Force, Marines, and Navy following a similar model in time.

• Performing Arts

In the performing arts, ATs can work with a variety of professional entities including sports entertainment teams, theatre productions and tours, music tours, dance companies, and wrestling to help prevent injuries and manage existing conditions. They can assist with warm-up and cool-down routines, stretching techniques, and injury-prevention exercises, while also providing rehabilitation services for performers who have sustained injuries.

By working closely with the performing arts population, athletic trainers can help ensure that these individuals are able to perform at their best while minimizing the risk of injury.

• Business Ownership

As you can see, ATs have a variety of job opportunities available to them in a range of settings, from sports teams to hospitals to corporate wellness programs. With their expertise in injury prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation, ATs play an essential role in promoting the health and well-being of athletes and non-athletes alike. Many of these settings have emerged in just the last decade or so, meaning there is still lots of opportunity available to any athletic trainer wanting to pursue a career path beyond what has been mentioned here. The application of our skills currently knows no bounds.

To dive deeper into this topic, check out Season 4 of The Business ATvantage Podcast hosted by Alisha M. Pennington where she discusses the transition from self-employment to business ownership. (you can also earn a FREE CEU per episode by creating an account here.)

If you're passionate about helping others and have an interest in sports medicine, a career as an athletic trainer may be a great choice for you. To learn more about the requirements to become an AT check out our blog HERE.

For more data on the AT profession’s job settings, refer to the NATA HERE.