8 great careers in the sports industry

Black Enterprise, Feb, 1995 by Bobby Clay

Most SIDs have a degree in journalism or communications. Salaries can range from $20,000 to more than $100,000. "You couldn't do this job without being sports-minded," says Fred Nuesch, 56, secretary of the College Sports Information Directors and longtime sports information director at Texas A&M University/Kingsville. "No two days are alike. It's seven days a week, lots of night work and lots of travel."

For further information, contact the College Sports Information Directors of America at Campus Box 114A, Kingsville, Texas 78363. Contact the league offices of the major pro sports for information on opportunities with professional franchises.

CERTIFIED ATHLETIC TRAINER

Job description: Work primarily with sports teams and deal with the health care problems of athletes by providing immediate treatment and rehabilitation of injuries caused during training or in game situations.

Secondary schools, universities and hospital/clinics are the biggest employers of the nation's roughly 12,000 certified athletic trainers. Of the 427 entry-level positions tracked in 1992 by the National Athletic Trainers' Association, 234 were in the hospital/clinic setting, 135 with colleges/universities and 58 at high schools, according to Crayton L. Moss, director of the Athletic Training Program at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

According to Moss, entry-level salaries start at $23,000 with a bachelor's degree and $25,000 with a master's. Most high school positions come with a stipend, making those the highest-paying entry-level positions.

Salaries escalate to $40,000 or $50,000 at mid-level and to $95,000 for those fortunate enough to work with professional teams. One of the leading African-Americans in the field is Ronnie Barnes, head trainer for the New York Giants football team.

Blacks represent less than 1% of all certified athletic trainers while women now account for nearly 50%, according to a 1994 survey conducted by the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) and Dr. Frank E. Walters, 40, coordinator of the District of Columbia Public Schools Athletic Health Care Services Department. Walters, chairman of NATA's Ethnic Minority Advisory Council, contends that one of the reasons for the shortage of blacks is that no black college or university offers athletic training as a professional degree. NATA has a list of nearly 100 approved athletic training degree programs.

The minimum education requirement for certification is a bachelor's degree. The certification test consists of a written, practical and oral examination of your knowledge of anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, hygiene, nutrition, conditioning, taping, bracing, emergency procedures, prevention of injury, injury evaluation and rehabilitative procedures.

Working as a student trainer or manager within your school's athletic program provides helpful experience.

Walters supervises 13 full-time certified athletic trainers. He predicts steady job growth in the field as more secondary schools start mandating that a trainer attend every sports contest. Walters recommends the field to "anyone who enjoys being involved in sports and working with people, particularly at a time of need. Athletes are highly motivated patients. They don't like to be hurt and definitely don't like not being in the game."