The NFL Foundation Athletic Trainer Grant Program in Oklahoma:
- The NFL Foundation, in collaboration with several great partners, recently announced the launch of a pilot program to provide funding to public high schools with football programs that have limited or no access to an athletic trainer, including Oklahoma. This program is an expansion of the athletic trainer initiatives developed and implemented by the NFL Foundation and its partners over the past two years.
- The NFL Foundation will award up to 150 grants to high schools in the four pilot states: Oklahoma, Oregon, Illinois and Arizona. Each grant will be in the amount of $35,000 awarded over a three-year period to fund an athletic training program.
- From now until the deadline on December 16, 2016, Oklahoma high schools can apply online at AthleticTrainerGrant.com.
- According to figures provided by the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA), only 26 percent of Oklahoma high schools have access to an athletic trainer.
- Many experts consider the presence of a certified athletic trainer to be the single most important way to improve sport safety. According to the NATA, “athletic training encompasses the prevention, examination, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of emergent, acute or chronic injuries and medical conditions”.
- This pilot program builds on the NFL Foundation’s athletic trainer grant program established two years ago to help NFL teams increase access to athletic trainers in their communities. This program has underscored the need for funding for athletic trainers and provided useful insight into potential methods of addressing this need.