Athletic Training - Not the Most Family Friendly Career

I love being a certified athletic trainer. I was a student trainer in high school, went on to get my B.S. in athletic training, and did a wonderful internship before starting a job doing a clinical outreach at a local high school.

As I said, I love being an A.T.,C., but I thankfully have been able to move out of the schools, and into a more unconventional job working at a running / swimming specialty store doing gait analysis on treadmills for athletes. I have learned through the years that the majority of athletic training jobs are found at high schools, or at colleges. While I enjoyed my time spent at a high school, when I had my son, I realized it just didn't work.

Athletic trainers put in a lot of hours in a work week, and they don't usually coincide with other members of your family. For examply, I was working at a physical therapy clinic from 8:00 am until 2:00 pm; at 2:00, I drove to my high school to do rehab, and pre-practice or pre-game taping and treatments. From there, I spent time covering practices and/or games until the last athlete left for the day and the training room was cleaned. I traveled Friday nights with our football team, and was expected to travel with any team for play-off games. There were some Friday nights that I didn't get home until after 1:00 am, and it was back up and out at school Saturday morning for practices and treatment time.

I used to keep up with these hours pretty well, but as the years passed, I started experiencing burnout as most athletic trainers do- there are lots of hours to put in, there are always difficult athletes, parents, or coaches to deal with, and all of this for not much monetary compensation. Throughout my time spent as an A.T.,C. at a high school, I got married, became pregnant (and miscarried) twice, and during that time I found that I had no vacation days to use. During the summer I worked full-time at the clinic, and during holiday breaks, my athletes were still practicing, so I had to be there to attend.

My third pregnancy was rocky from the start, and I made the tough decision to leave my school, and take a break from athletic training. My body could not keep up with the physical aspects of lifting injured athletes, carrying heavy med kits, and standing in the sometimes freezing cold temps for games anymore. I wanted to be able to have a baby, and be able to be there to put him to bed at night, and spend time together like a "normal" family. I carried that pregnancy to term, and I am the proud parent of a wonderful 4 year-old. While I often miss the athletes I worked with, I love my new job at the running / swimming store. It gives me a chance to use my skills in biomechanical analysis, and yet be able to work "normal" hours, scheduling in plenty of time with my family.

These days it is all about balance, and luckily I have found mine.