General Guidelines for Building a High School Sports ...
General Guidelines for Building a High School Sports Medicine Program
High school sports medicine programs have proliferated throughout the United States. Begun as a novelty or specialized program, interest and the desire to offer these programs has expanded each year. The following information is designed to help instructors develop successful sports medicine programs in their schools or school districts.
Chapter 4 of Introduction to Sports Medicine & Athletic Training describes the athletic training student aide program. It will be important to review this material to help with the design matrix. This material also explains the importance of student aides and their function in the school.
Early in the design process, the designers must decide how the class will be taught. Will it be a semester course, a year-long course, a multigrade class, or a combination of all three? Let’s take a look at the two most popular types of classes taught in the United States today.
Semester Course
The semester course often is an introductory or preliminary class designed to give students (of any grade level) a brief overview of what sports medicine and athletic training are all about. This class is sometimes used to find students who are serious about the field. Once identified, these students can be matriculated into a special year-long class designed as a college preparatory course.
Physical education credit is often given for this course. Some school districts give science credit, whereas others issue crossover credit for either physical education or science. A strong case can be made for either method of designating the type of credit the course should receive.
Year-long Course
This course has the advantage of delivering the most information and building a student training program. Semester courses can work well, but are hindered by the inherent lack of time. If the instructor knows that he or she will be able to plan content and activities for a full year, students will have the advantage of much greater depth and scope of instruction. Another advantage of the full-year course is the ability to work with many different sports programs. Working with football in the fall and baseball in the spring, for example, allows the athletic training student aide to experience different injury types and mechanisms of injury.
Year-long classes can also accommodate different grade levels. This allows the instructor to develop a curriculum that could be three years in length. See “Developing a Three Year Curriculum” on this web site. A three-year curriculum allows development of students from the sophomore year through the senior year of school.
Funding a Sports Medicine Program
Sports medicine programs are generally funded in two different ways. The first is through the general education budget. The course is built into the course schedule matrix, just like any other course. Approval is usually through the building principal and the department head of physical education or science, depending on how the course is placed. The instructor of the sports medicine program will have to “sell” the proposal on how the course will benefit students and the school.
The second method, and perhaps the best option, is to seek funding of the program through vocational education. Vocational funding originates at the state level and is allocated to the district. The district funds are determined by what vocational programs are taught and the number of students in each program. Vocational programs must be approved by the state.
To have a sports medicine program approved, the course must be taught by a vocationally certified sports medicine instructor. Most states require the instructor to have worked in the field for a specific period of time. This can be by a specific number of hours or years in the field. State requirements for certification vary; instructors do not always have to have education degrees. Vocational funding is normally in addition to basic education funding. This is why many school districts across the country are eager to add vocational programs to their class offerings. Schools interested in adding sports medicine to their curricula should contact their district’s vocational director.
Promoting the Sports Medicine Program
Promoting your program can make the difference between a successful program and one that struggles. Promotion will take many different forms. Successful programs build on their successes and promote the positive aspects of the program to their target groups.
Those target groups are, generally, students you would like to see in the program, as well as your school, the school district, and the general community. Unless people know of your program, it may get lost in the shuffle.
Many programs are promoted by way of the school newspaper, banners, handouts, local news media, web sites, videos, and vocational fairs. A sample brochure from one successful program can be downloaded from this site. Promotion is important and will help attract the best candidates to your program. The best promotional tool is sports medicine students themselves. Students can set up booths to answer questions and give demonstrations. Students love to see other students engaged in an activity that sparks their interest.
Creation of a web page will enable the instructor to highlight positive aspects of the program, and to promote student activities. The site can also be used as an educational tool for visitors to the site. Here are several different promotional sites from across the United States:
Billings, Montana:
Reedley, California:
Irving, Texas:
Southport, Indiana:
Federal Way, Washington:
Bow, New Hampshire:
Prospect, Illinois:
Cincinnati, Ohio:
Questions?
Questions and additional help can be obtained by contacting the author of Introduction to Sports Medicine & Athletic Training at the following email address: inspmedat@
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