Sep 3, 2024Alabama lawmakers seek to expand grant to attract athletic trainers
Alabama isn’t the only state facing a shortage of available and well-trained athletic trainers. But the state is addressing the issue by proposing the expansion of a new grant.
Chris King, the chair of the Alabama Board of Athletic Trainers, told lawmakers recently that expanding funding for a new grant program could help the state address its shortage of athletic trainers in public schools and elsewhere.
A recent story from ALDailyNews.com spoke with state lawmakers about making it easier for future athletic trainers to receive grants that could help address the state’s athletic trainer shortage. Below is an excerpt from the ALDailyNews.com story.
Lawmakers allocated $300,000 for the program in both the 2024 and 2025 education budgets. The board is in charge of distributing that money and previously told Alabama Daily News the first round of funding won’t be distributed until this coming spring.
“Putting in that money has been a nice carrot to keep people where they’re at, and also to draw people in,” King said. “We just hope in the future we can fund it a little bit larger to where we can increase it into 4a, 5a, and then move on up.”
Only 1A, 2A, 3A and Title I secondary schools are currently eligible for the grant program.
King said that the shortage of athletic trainers in the state still persists, however, and that a recent change to certification requirements had seen rates of students graduating with degrees in athletic training plummet.
“The fact that we moved three years ago to a masters’ entry level, that’s created a shrinkage of athletic trainers coming out of school because their salaries have not risen very far, and kids are not stupid so they’re not going into it as much,” he said.
“Nationwide, we’ve got almost a 40% decrease in graduation rates for athletic trainers, so it’s a massive shortage.”
Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, a member of the Sunset Committee, asked King what the starting pay was in Alabama for athletic trainers, to which King said it was between $48,000 and $53,000 a year.
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According to a recent survey by the National Athletics Trainers’ Association and the American College of Sports Medicine, low pay has been among the most frequently cited areas of concern among athletic trainers across the country. Higher pay for athletic trainers in the industrial industry and the armed forces was also a contributing factor to shortages of trainers for schools.
“I would like to see some type of change or recommendation from you guys on what we need to do to recruit more people that’s not just the government should just write a check,” Simpson said.
To read the full story from ALDailyNews.com, click here.
