Becoming a Sports Trainer

2009-02-14T04:01:00.000-08:00

I know the primary purpose of this blog is to introduce some books and resources for potential and current physio students. Well, I would think that many (if not most!) physio students are interested in working as Sports Physiotherapists, either in sports teams, hospitals or in private practice. The best experience, I reckon, any student could get would be to start off at a sports club. I've heard of some students working with hockey, netball and rugby teams here in Australia. Whereas myself, I've worked as a trainer in a footy team, and sure it was rewarding!

So here are the steps I took to become one.
1. Obtain Adult First Aid Certificate
2. Obtain Sports Trainer Certificate
3. Apply for a Sports Trainer Job

1.Obtaining Adult First Aid Certificate

According to Sports Medicine Australia (SMA), "A current First Aid Certificate (minimum Level 1) is a pre-requisite for the SMA Level 1 Sports Trainer course". If you are already currently undertaking a medical or health science related course (e.g. Medicine, Physiotherapy, Chiropractice, Nursing etc.) you should know what this is. This can be obtained at your local St. John's Ambulance (www.stjohn.org.au) or Australian Red Cross (www.redcross.org.au). This certificate lasts for 3 years, for which you would need to do a refresher after that.

Personally speaking, I know of people who commenced their Sports Trainer Course before obtatining their First Aid certificate. What happens is, they will only mail out your Sports Trainer Certificate after receiving proof of your First Aid Certification, and they generally allow people to mail the proof in after the Sports Trainer Course. Meaning, they do not check that you have First Aid Certificate to allow you to start the Sports Trainer course, but you need it to get the certification. However, I strongly recommend going for the First Aid Course before the Sports Trainer, as some of the concepts in the Sports Trainer course are added and applied knowledge from basic first aid, and are also in many cases, assumed knowledge. Hopefully that wasn't too confusing!

2.Obtaining the Sports Trainer Certification

If you are currently studying Physiotherapy in Australia, this is a good time to ask your school administration if they organise accelerated courses for physio students. Often, some Universities offer accelerated (and at a subsidised rate) courses for their 2nd year physio students. Students are assumed to have sound anatomy knowledge to be eligible for the accelerated course.

I applied for the accelerated course through the school, having done anatomy in the 1st year. The accelerated course goes on for a full day (a Saturday for me) from 9 to 5. Components of the lessons included theory lectures and practical aspects. There is a checklist to make sure that all aspects of the theory and practical knowledge are covered. In the practical classes, the students will have to be "ticked off" on this checklist, once they have demonstrated that they can perform a certain skill well and safely. Examples are: bandaging, taping etc.

The course is run by Sports Medicine Australia (www.sma.org.au). To find out more about about the course itself, or information on being a sports trainer, click here.

3.Applying for a Sports Trainer Job

It could be useful to enquire from sports clubs whether they would accept students who have not completed their sports trainer's course to "learn on the job". I know of some clubs who have funded their new trainers to go for the Sports Trainer Course.

For those who already have their certification, Feb to early April is a good time to look for jobs, especially for footy clubs, which begin their seasons then. There are a couple of websites which lists clubs who are employing trainers.

Sport Jobs - Online Employment Service
Sports Trainer Employment Service - part of the SMA website

It is a good idea to check from your seniors, if they are working at clubs and have job openings. Also check out your notice boards in school to see if there are any job advertisements.

That is all the advice I have for now, I'll post up something if I remember or requested. Good luck, and most importantly have fun!

Introduction

2009-02-14T01:25:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. I'm a physiotherapy undergraduate currently studying in Australia. I will put up some of the physiotherapy resources that I use in my revision, or to enhance my knowledge in various areas of physiotherapy. Feel free to comment, or leave (relevant) links to your site!

Physiotherapy Resources

Becoming a Sports Trainer

Introduction