A survey of athletic training departments of 16 four year colleges in the state of California

Author

Irving B. Thompson, University of the Pacific

Date of Award

1948

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

Physical Education

First Advisor

Walter S. Knox

First Committee Member

Carl Voltmer

Second Committee Member

Earl Jackson

Abstract

The care of the athlete has come into much discussion and has been the object of much research, but all this has come about in recent years. The athlete's health is paramount to a successful team and a conscientious coach; more so is his health important in contact sports with intercollegiate football in the foreground. The interest in football injuries has increased with the increased emphasis of the sport, for the coach is finding it more and more important to have all his players in the best possible condition to withstand the physical and mental strain under which they must compete. The coach, therefore, relies heavily on the team trainer.

Are there enough trained and qualified athletic trainers in our colleges and universities to meet this challenge? Are these same institutions properly equipped to care for the athlete? What methods, materials, and equipment are being used? What improvements can be made in the field of training? These questions came to the authors attention only after experience as trainer for four different organizations. In truth, the field of athletic training seemed no more than an embryo with a great need for an accumulation of fata which would bring out various methods, uses of equipment and of materials, and comparison of the existing training departments of more schools than just the one where the young athlete and future coach gets his training. Thus, the inspiration for this investigation was born.

The problem undertaken was to report the existing training departments of a selected group of colleges and universities, and to present an ideal training department for both the large university and the smaller college.

The State of California has twenty-two four year colleges and universities within its boundaries. They range from the largest university in the world to a college with a male enrollment of 475. Of these twenty-two institutions all sponsoring intercollegiate football, nineteen have training departments, and reports from sixteen of these schools form the basis of this thesis. The data was gathered over a two year period from visits and questionnaires from the schools involved. The information is by no means conclusive, but it does help to show the position training occupies at the present time in California universities and colleges.

Unless otherwise stated, all statements represent the consensus of opinion by the trainers involved.

Pages

104

Recommended Citation

Thompson, Irving B.. (1948). A survey of athletic training departments of 16 four year colleges in the state of California. University of the Pacific, Thesis. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/1064