How To Become A Head Athletic Trainer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a head athletic trainer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a head athletic trainer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $22.65 an hour? That's $47,105 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 17% and produce 5,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreHead Athletic TrainerUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $47,105

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.1

Growth rate 17%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.54%

Asian 8.42%

Black or African American 9.15%

Hispanic or Latino 15.29%

Unknown 4.00%

White 61.60%

Gender

female 42.97%

male 57.03%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

8.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.4

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a head athletic trainer

Explore head athletic trainer education requirements

Most common head athletic trainer degrees

Bachelor's

74.4 %

Master's

20.0 %

Associate

3.5 %

Start to develop specific head athletic trainer skills

Skills	Percentages
Rehabilitation	21.88%
CPR	7.65%
Game Coverage	6.93%
Athletic Injuries	5.92%
NCAA	5.13%

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed head athletic trainer usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed head athletic trainer in most of states. 42 states require head athletic trainers to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	Degree required	State exam required	Licensed Athletic Trainer
Alaska	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Athletic Trainer
Arkansas	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Athletic Trainer
Colorado	-	-	Athletic Trainers
Connecticut	Degree required	State exam required	Athletic Trainer

Research head athletic trainer duties and responsibilities

Provide health care to student athletes in men's and women's basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball.
Prepare and administer appropriate rehabilitation programs according to protocol
Provide leadership and supervision of both cross country/ track and field graduate assistant and volleyball graduate assistant.
Care for and rehabilitate professional soccer players, as well as handled the duties of travel secretary for the organization

Prepare your head athletic trainer resume

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