How to Become a Basketball Trainer
Basketball trainers hold important jobs, as they aim to prevent injuries to athletes through diet and exercise. When an injury does occur, it's up to the trainer to find out what is wrong and what type of rehabilitation care is needed. Basketball trainers are much like the athletes themselves in that it takes work and dedication to become one.
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Instructions
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Becoming A Basketball Trainer.
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Get a bachelor's degree or, even better, a graduate degree. A sports medicine curriculum and the sciences, especially exercise physiology, offer good preparation for the field. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics notes athletic training is considered an allied health. However, as with physical therapists, trainers are not required to attend medical school.
Besides earning a degree and certification, aspiring basketball trainers would be wise to assist their college team while still in school, or even volunteer at a local high school or middle school. That way you can obtain hands-on training and will have all-important experience to list on your resume.
Your schooling and volunteer trainer work should prepare you to determine the type and severity of various musculoskeletal injuries, and then administer the appropriate treatment to relieve symptoms like pain, inflammation or muscle tears, according to Education-Portal.com. You will need to know when an injury is severe enough to refer an athlete to an orthopedist or other physician for surgery or other intensive treatment. For less severe injuries, trainers must be equipped to provide many of the same treatment methods employed by physical therapists, Education-Portal.com advises.
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Become certified. Most all states, and basketball teams, require sports trainers to become certified (unless it's on a volunteer basis at the amateur leve). Certification varies by state and level, but typically includes more class work and testing beyond college. Some organizations that offer certification, such as the International Fitness Professionals Association, offer courses specific to basketball. Most colleges that offer sports medicine as a degree are able to point graduates in the right direction when it comes to becoming certified.
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Find a job. All colleges and professional basketball teams have trainers. That includes men's and women's teams, the NBA and minor leagues. Also, as basketball becomes more global, clubs located overseas have been hiring more American trainers. Many trainers also work on a freelance basis, providing training and treatment to numerous individual athletes, athletic facilities or teams.
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Go to work expecting to earn $30,000 and up. Athletic trainers earned a median annual salary of $39,640 in May 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The good news is, athletic training is a rapidly growing field. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs for athletic trainers are projected to grow by 37 percent through 2018--which is more than three times the average growth rate for all occupations.
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- Photo Credit basketball ball image by Aliaksandr Zabudzko from Fotolia.com
