Friday, October 18, 2013

MCPS Football Games--October 18: Which Teams Have Athletic Trainers and Which Don't


4 comments:

  1. What document is this? I was at the Seneca Valley/Watkins Mill game last night, and Watkins Mill had an individual treating injured players. I even watched her perform tests on a player who may have suffered a concussion. I don't know if she is a licensed athletic trainer, but she sure seemed to be filling that capacity.

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  2. Holden, thanks for reading the blog post. I have been advocating since May 2012 for each of MCPS's high schools to have an athletic trainer, and I prepared the document reflecting the MCPS football team match-ups for October 18 at this blog post. Dr. Robert Cantu, a concussion expert neurosurgeon, and others have said that if a school system can't afford athletic trainers, it can't afford to have a contact sports program.

    Back in August, MCPS Athletics announced that it was providing athletic trainers at 11 of MCPS's 25 high schools. The announcement was contained in the MCPS Athletics Department's Baseline Testing Plan document at this link http://www.scribd.com/doc/159561150/MCPS-Md-Athletic-Trainer-Pilot-Program-for-11-of-25-High-Schools-See-Item-M-on-p-3. It is my understanding that, at each of the 11 MCPS high schools covered by an athletic trainer, the athletic trainer serves 20-25 hours per week.

    The document at this blog post shows, for the varsity games tonight, October 18, the football teams playing and which school has been assigned an athletic trainer for 20-25 hour per week and which ones have not. Neither Seneca Valley nor Watkins Mill is on MCPS's list as having a 20-25 hour per week athletic trainer. So at the game you saw last night (I assume it was a JV game) if that person you saw tending to Watkins Mill players was an athletic trainer, it may have been someone that was arranged by the school or the boosters to provide game coverage. That would be better than no athletic trainer at all but an important benefit of a high school having an athletic trainer is the follow up during the week. So I hope Watkins Mill gets an athletic trainer next year in the 2014-2015 operating budget.

    People say that the MCPS Operating Budget for 2014-2014 is already decided (in private) so I hope that athletic trainers at each of MCPS's 25 high schools, at least part time (20-25 hours per week) is in the current version of the budget that Supt. Starr will propose in December. Keep in mind that the 11 part-time athletic trainers currently at MCPS high schools were provided "at no charge" by mainly Medstar and other vendors that provided ImPACT (c) Baseline Concussion Testing at each MCPS high school.

    Next year, these vendors will want to charge for athletic trainers and Dr. Starr advised the Board of Education in an October 2012 memo that this could cost $500,000 for part time trainers and $1.5 million for athletic trainers that are full time employees. (Note that in neighboring Fairfax County, Virginia, each of the 24 high schools has 2 full time athletic trainers--if you were thinking of relocating your company to this area, which school system do you think your employees with high school kids would want you to pick?)

    If you haven't seen it, here is a map I prepared that reflect the surrounding school systems and their status as to athletic trainer staffing. http://www.scribd.com/doc/159976982/Map-of-Md-and-Northern-VA-Counties-Status-With-Athletic-Trainers-08-13-2013

    Feel free to reach me at ConcussionMCPS@verizon.net .

    And please let me know of any other schools where you see what looks like athletic trainer staffing at a school that was not among the 11 high schools that MCPS assigned one to. I will try to reflect it in the game preview in the weeks to come.

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  3. Do we know that these trainers were actually staffed and paid for by MCPS or were they paid for by the individual schools and/or School Athletic Booster clubs? I don't understand why they would pay for some and not others. And it's not a "providing for the rich school vs poor school" issue. I wouldn't call Kennedy, Einstein and Northwood rich schools, each having a trainer and certainly Damascus, Quince Orchard and BCC aren't poor, the ones that didn't have one. I am willing to bet the schools paid because this seems too helter skelter for MCPS to be dealing with it that way. I am sure the schools pay for them out of their athletic department budget on an "as they can afford" basis and pick and choose the games to staff. This would be a big influx of cash into an MCPS athletic budget that got cut 2 years ago, to pay for the various "contact" sports needing one. Just for Fall alone you are talking JV and Varsity Football, JV/Varsity Boys and Girls soccer & JV/Varsity Field Hockey. I am all for it and feel it is necessary but there is not question that will be pricey.

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    Replies
    1. Welcome to Helter Skelter. You lose the bet.

      Superintendent Joshua Starr picked certain schools to have athletic trainers.

      http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2013/08/breaking-news-starr-puts-athletic.html

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