Friday Night Action
A bone-jarring hit and a Bonanza High School football player goes down. Ben Hirabayashi, a UNLV sophomore, rushes to provide medical support.
It is part of the athletic training education major’s clinical training, and local high schools are benefitting from the extra hands on the field.
"With close to 200 student-athletes and just one certified athletic trainer, students like Ben provide a tremendous service for our local high schools," said Todd Hamburg, the head athletic trainer at Bonanza and a UNLV alumnus. "In college and professional settings, there might be a dozen athletic trainers for one sport. In high schools, students step in immediately, interact with players and coaches, and in a way become assistant athletic trainers for the school."
Student athletic trainers like Hirabayashi, a former captain of Bonanza’s team, provide much needed on-site support in injury prevention, rehabilitation, and education for high school athletic trainers and the thousands of student-athletes they interact with every day.
A Partnership
Of the 21 students currently enrolled in UNLV’s athletic training education program, 10 are supporting local high schools this fall.
Through a partnership with the Clark County School District and athletic training provider Select Medical, UNLV students are able to carry out their clinical training at local high schools and learn the ins and outs of the profession from certified trainers, many who are UNLV grads.
"Our students need to see a variety of experiences during their time at UNLV, but high school athletic training is important because that's where the jobs are," said Mack Rubley, director of UNLV's athletic training education program. “Fewer than half the high schools in the country have athletic trainers (all CCSD high schools do), but more are coming to realize the importance of having athletic trainers on site to treat, rehab, and prevent injuries."
Staying Connected
For many of the program’s students, including senior Melissa Goo, athletic training is a passion that began with personal experience.
"When I was injured in high school, I spent quite a bit of time in the athletic training room," said Goo, who is working this semester with Del Sol High School. "Even after my injury healed, I spent time learning about the profession, volunteered with my school's athletic trainer, and realized this was the career for me."
Goo said her perspective as both an athlete and a trainer has opened her eyes to the importance of athletic training in the high school setting.
High school athletes not only need to be educated on how to maintain health and prevent injuries, but why things like eating right and being properly hydrated are important, she said. "We’re a central source for education, in addition to injury prevention, and being a student athletic trainer for a high school has definitely opened my eyes to a potential career setting."
UNLV's athletic training education program is housed in the School of Allied Health Sciences and is the only accredited program of its kind in Nevada. Its graduates work in a variety of settings, from amateur and professional sports organizations and sports medicine facilities to the U.S. Navy and even several Cirque du Soleil productions on the Las Vegas Strip.
Related Information
Athletic Training Education Program
School of Allied Health Sciences
