Athletic Training Center FAQs
Home > Athletic Training Services > Athletic Training Center FAQs
Athletic trainers are healthcare providers who provide a safer approach to sport, work, and life, specifically in the area of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of illness and injury. They are board certified by the Board of Certification and California is actively fighting for regulation of athletic trainers (licensure/registration). For more information on what athletic trainers do, their education, and more, see At Your Own Risk
Our athletic trainers are passionate about keeping our student-athletes safe. They accomplish this through prevention such as monitoring the weather, injury care, whether it is sport-related or not, acting as a liaison between other healthcare providers to provide collaborative care, and more. Our athletic trainers work closely with our Medical Director, nursing and medical assistant team, counseling team, and coaches.
Athletic trainers and trainers play very different but important roles in the care of an individual and have different educational backgrounds. While trainers (strength & conditioning coaches, personal trainers, sport-specific coaches) play an important role in overseeing a person’s exercise program, athletic trainers in the high school setting oversee the overall well-being of a student-athlete. Athletic Trainer vs. Trainer
- All student-athletes have free access to our athletic training staff. We will evaluate and treat injuries sustained that keep you out of our after-school programs, including concussions.
- Should a student-athlete require a higher level of care off-campus, we have strong connections with physical therapists and orthopedic surgeons in the Carpinteria and Santa Barbara areas to work with. Parents/guardians will always be notified if a student-athlete is requiring a referral.
- We have 2 e-stim machines with ultrasound and cold laser, 2 whirlpools, a Marc Pro recovery unit, 2 GameReadys, cupping, Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (Graston), Theragun, and a wide variety of rehabilitation tools such as free weights, kettlebells, therabands, and more.
- The athletic trainers provide education on prevention and injury management including but not limited to: mobilization techniques, strengthening exercises, self-soft tissue mobilization techniques, and more.
Once the athletic trainers have an opportunity to evaluate a student-athlete, a comprehensive report is documented in Healthy Roster. Every parent/guardian has access to their student-athlete’s chart. There, we will document the timeline of the progress of the injury, post any documents or pictures, ask questions about referrals or student-athlete history, and the parents/guardians can respond right on the timeline to the athletic trainers. If you have questions at any time, you are welcome to call the athletic training facility: 805-318-4699.
All students are baseline tested their first year at Cate and their 11th grade year. Parents can choose if their student-athlete will be tested using c3logix, a neurocognitive concussion test. Otherwise, the student-athlete will complete the most recent Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (as of 9/29/23 the most current is the SCAT6).
When a student sustains a suspected concussion, the athletic trainers do an initial evaluation to determine if a student-athlete requires a higher level of care. After that, a concussion test is likely completed and a diagnosis is made. They then work with the Medical Director to confirm the diagnosis and determine a plan of care. We have an established return to learn protocol in line with the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) return to learn protocol with additions for the nuances of boarding school. Once a student-athlete has cleared requirements they begin the CIF return to play protocol.