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Fryer: Proposal to ensure athletic trainers are certified deserves support

October 12, 2023

Whenever a high school athlete is injured it’s always a relief to see an athletic trainer hustling to the athlete to render assistance.

It would be better for all, especially the athletes’ parents, to be certain that the trainer has the certified qualifications to render that assistance.

California Assembly Bill 796 is making its way through the portals of state legislature. The bill would require that anyone who works as a high school sports athletic trainer is registered with the state as a trainer after having been certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA).

CIF Southern Section commissioner Mike West started his work in high school sports as an athletic trainer at Ayala High School in 1994 and would become president of the California Athletic Trainers Association. He has plenty of interest and expertise in the field of athletic trainers.

West said the bill would ensure that high school sports athletic trainers are qualified to care for injured athletes, in games and matches and at practices.

“This would enable us to regulate the profession of athletic trainers,” said West, in his first year as CIF-SS commissioner. “The certified athletic trainer who is certified by the NATA would have to register in the state so we know who they are. You couldn’t call yourself an athletic trainer and provide athletic training services.”

Several Orange County school districts require that only certified trainers can work as trainers at their contests. Anaheim Union High School District and the Santa Ana Unified School District are among them.

Dr. Mike Shepard is an orthopaedic surgeon at the Orthopaedic Specialty Institute and serves as the team doctor for Servite. He has also served in that role for UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton and the Angels. He is an advocate for getting certified trainers at high school sporting events.

“California is the only state that does not certify athletic trainers,” Shepard said. “The idea of making certified athletic trainers more of a mainstream thing to have on campus is a good thing. With the emphasis on athletics at our schools, safety should be emphasized for school athletics.”

Athletic trainers have saved lives. Making sure that all high school athletic trainers have the qualifications required to take care of athletes is something everyone should support.

NOTES

• St. John Bosco football coach Jason Negro publicy is using the “nobody believes we can win” stuff so of course he has been telling that to Braves players all week leading to Friday’s game against Mater Dei at St. John Bosco’s Panish Family Stadium. …

• The game sold out in three minutes after tickets went on sale Monday. Capacity at Panish is 5,000. Bally West SoCal will televise the game live, and the NFHS Network will live stream the game. …

Mater Dei fans cheer as their team takes the field before the start of the Trinity League football game against St. John Bosco in Santa Ana on Friday, October 7, 2022. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

• West said he will attend Friday’s high school football game at SoFi Stadium, where Downey plays against Warren. That stadium, home of the Chargers and Rams, is not a site for any of this year’s CIF-SS football championship games. It might be in future seasons if a rental fee and associated costs are acceptable to the CIF-SS group. …

• The Orange County Cross Country Championships are Friday and Saturday at Oak Canyon Park in Silverado. Dana Hills’ boys team is ranked No. 1 in the country by PrepCalTrack.com. The Dolphins, who have the county’s top runner in junior Evan Noonan, is the favorite to win the boys team championship, but they could get a good challenge from San Clemente and its top runner, senior Brett Ephraim. …

• Noonan finished third last week in the Clovis Invitational that was run at Woodward Park, which is also the site for the CIF State finals on Nov. 23. JSerra’s girls team was the Clovis Invitational team champion, led by Sophie Polay’s 10th-place finish. JSerra’s Kayla Tasser finished 12th. JSerra’s incredibly deep girls team should win the girls team title at the O.C. Championships by a large margin.

• Trabuco Hills junior Holly Barker is the one to beat in the girls competition at the Orange County Championships. Barker likes the progress of her season that includes winning the Central Park Invitational on Sept. 30 and is looking forward to this weekend’s race. “I just want to go out with confidence and carry out the pace that I know I’m capable of,” she said. …

• Senior Vyctorious Miller has returned to the Crean Lutheran boys basketball team. He was All-Orange County first team as a sophomore at Crean Lutheran during the 2021-22 season, when he averaged 20 points a game. Miller, who was at Compass High in Arizona last school year, will be a candidate for county player of the year. …

• Mater Dei’s boys basketball team will play St. John Bosco at Crypto.com Arena, home of the Lakers and Clippers, as part of the six-game Coastal Catholic Classic on Jan. 6. That will add a new entry to the list of Southern California arenas where Mater Dei’s Gary McKnight has coached. The list includes the Forum, Los Angeles Sports Arena, Honda Center, Pauley Pavilion, Anaheim Convention Center and Galen Center. …

• Among the new rules in place for the 2024 baseball season: Electronic communication devices are permissible from the dugout to the catcher while the team is on defense for the purpose of calling pitches.

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Vote now for the Southern California News Group Boys Athlete of the Week, Oct. 11

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Vote now for the Southern California News Group Girls Athlete of the Week, Oct. 11

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CIF-SS boys and girls cross country rankings, Oct. 10

Orange County Register

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Fryer: Proposal to ensure athletic trainers are certified deserves support

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