One of the things our students love about TCU is our athletic programs. With over 20 teams competing in various Division I sports, it truly takes a village to ensure that our student-athletes can be successful both on game day and in the classroom. We want to honor TCU’s athletic training program and our students who work hard to ensure that players stay safe and healthy while playing the sports they love!
March is National Athletic Training Month, which aims to spread awareness about the important work of athletic trainers. At TCU, athletic training is a master’s program that prepares students to become highly-trained professionals that can collaborate with doctors and physicians to take injury-preventative measures, diagnose and help rehabilitate athletes through injuries. Students who are in the process of completing their undergraduate degree at TCU can declare for the early admission master’s program after completing 110 credit hours towards their undergraduate degree. More details can be found on the admissions website for the program.
Students get the best of both worlds in this program, learning from our experienced faculty and team doctors while engaging in hands-on experiences during clinical rotations. Athletic training students are placed at various clinical sites across Dallas-Fort Worth and even work for our own athletic programs on campus! Check out this video from TCU football giving a shout out to our student trainers!
There are also several student and professional organizations that athletic training students can join such as the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and the Athletic Training Students’ Association. Both of these organizations aim to advance the professionalism and growth of athletic training as a profession.
Let’s hear from a few program alumni who shared their experiences and the impact that they hope to make in athletic training.
“Nothing compares to being the one whom student-athletes turn to when they’re at their lowest and seeing the look on their faces when they are able to do what they love again. Athletic training is an extremely rewarding field, and like the profession and TCU’s program, there is truly nothing else like it.”- Katie Smith ’24
You can learn more about Katie’s experience and check out what a day in the life of a student athletic trainer looks like!
“I enjoy helping other people be active and to use their body to help them heal from whatever injury or ailment that they’re experiencing. [Athletic training] matches really well with the passions that I have with being active. I’m able to combine that with the medical field and make a difference in young people’s lives, help them do the things that they love more fully, prevent them from having injuries and make them perform better overall.”- Kaley Pelfrey ’24
Watch Kaley’s Vogue-style interview as she answers 27 questions about being a student athletic trainer at TCU.
We are so grateful for our amazing student athletic trainers and can’t wait to see all that they accomplish!
Sophia Vargas ’25 studies strategic communication at TCU with a minor in political science, and is from Northern California. She is a social media intern and operations intern for the Office of Admission. Sophia is also involved with her local church and the Turning Point USA chapter on campus.