NATM 2021

When the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in March 2020, Broadway went dark and theaters across the country closed, forcing performers and dance companies to figure out how to navigate the unknown circumstances ahead of them.

Like much of the world, in March 2020, colleges and universities, as well as secondary schools, shut down to help stifle the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. For some colleges and universities, that meant students were sent home – that’s if they could go home. International students, graduate students and medical students who didn’t and couldn’t go home had to remain on campus.

In the near 60,000-person town of Marietta, Georgia, Jeff Hopp, LAT, ATC, joined Marietta High School in 2002 as the only athletic trainer on the sports medicine team, which also included a physician and six athletic training student aides.

Hiring athletic trainers to care for local public safety departments is gaining momentum in cities across the U.S. Because of the support and funding necessary to incorporate athletic training services into government budgets, finding their place in smaller communities to provide care might be intimidating to ATs. 

Over the past year, collegiate athletic trainers on campuses big and small have stepped up to slow the spread of and manage the COVID-19 pandemic. While many ATs have transitioned to testing and even vaccinating in the athletics department, some institutions have turned to their athletic trainers to take the lead for the entire campus as essential health care providers.