To me, this is a critical issue for athletic training education programs.  As educators, we want to provide meaningful clinical experiences for athletic training students.  Pre-season athletic practices have the potential to give students unique experiences that will be with them the rest of their careers.

 

However, we need to ask ourselves what our motivation is for "giving" these experiences.  If the students are "needed" as workers, this is not a good reason to require them to participate.  One option is to schedule a clinical course in the summer time, and have some pre-season activities be a part of it.  If I know that something will be a good experience, I will incorporate it into a clinical course that is part of the curriculum.  All students who take that course will have the same experience, and they will not be used as workers.

 

John

 

 

John Lowry M.S., ATC, CSCS
Department of Kinesiology
Saginaw Valley State University
7400 Bay Road
University Center, MI 48710
(989)964-7319
jlowry@...