Women Athletic Trainers in the NFL
Women in the National Football League The NFL is a man’s world where each and every man is out on the field to show off his athleticism. Every aspect of the game, whether it is on the field or on the side lines, is predominately male. However, there is an area of the NFL that women could become a part of. Women could become athletic trainers for the NFL. An athletic trainer is a health care specialist that focuses on prevention of injury and rehab to recuperate athletes (Summary). Currently there are no women employed in the NFL although one woman used to work for the Pittsburgh Steelers (Mihoces). There are many people that agree that women should be able to work in the NFL, but there are also many people that do not believe women belong in the NFL.
Pros
The first argument from the people for women working with the NFL is that every athletic trainer must meet the same requirements. If male and female athletic trainers alike have to meet the same requirements, then that makes women just as competent as men. The same courses in college must be taken, with the same lab and clinical work (Bronner). To be in pro or college sports, a master’s degree is also required. In 48 of the 50 states, some sort of government paperwork and testing is also required. In most states, to become an athletic trainer, you must take a test and fill out paperwork to become licensed. In a few others, an aspiring athletic trainer will only have to fill out paperwork. In figure 1, the map is showing what every state requires to be an athletic trainer. If women are good enough to get the degrees and pass all of the tests, they should be good enough to work for the NFL.
A second argument is that athletic training is just a health care profession (Summary). It is not the same as drafting a female athlete to play on the team. An athletic trainer is like a physical therapist that is sports oriented. Men have women physical therapists on a daily basis. How is having a female athletic
Pros
The first argument from the people for women working with the NFL is that every athletic trainer must meet the same requirements. If male and female athletic trainers alike have to meet the same requirements, then that makes women just as competent as men. The same courses in college must be taken, with the same lab and clinical work (Bronner). To be in pro or college sports, a master’s degree is also required. In 48 of the 50 states, some sort of government paperwork and testing is also required. In most states, to become an athletic trainer, you must take a test and fill out paperwork to become licensed. In a few others, an aspiring athletic trainer will only have to fill out paperwork. In figure 1, the map is showing what every state requires to be an athletic trainer. If women are good enough to get the degrees and pass all of the tests, they should be good enough to work for the NFL.
A second argument is that athletic training is just a health care profession (Summary). It is not the same as drafting a female athlete to play on the team. An athletic trainer is like a physical therapist that is sports oriented. Men have women physical therapists on a daily basis. How is having a female athletic
Cited: TheHuffingtonPost.com, 15 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Sept. 2012. National Athletic Training Association, n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2012 "Summary." U.S Web. 09 Oct. 2012.