Athletic trainers (AT) do more than just tape ankles and pass out water to players during practices and games. In essence they are the first responder to the athlete whenever needed.
“From a sports perspective, athletic trainers are servants,” explained Dr. Nicolette “Nikki” A. Harris, associate professor and director of student recruitment at A.T. Still University, a health sciences school.
“We are often the individuals that are behind the scenes. The athletic trainer is always there, and we’re such an integral part of any organization regardless of setting. We are really serving as this bridge between the larger health care system and the athlete.”
Harris is among the estimated 5% to 7% certified Black ATs nationwide working in sports in 2025. As a result, Harris was the lead author of a new study, “Perceptions of Leadership Opportunities and Effectiveness Among Athletic Trainers: A Comparison Across Racial and Ethnic Groups.” It was published in the September “Journal of Athletic Training.”
Its key findings included that Black ATs see race and ethnicity as a leadership barrier, while white ATs don’t; and POC ATs, especially Blacks, say current athletic training leadership is less helpful than do white athletic trainers.
“Findings from this study revealed an overwhelming percentage of African American participants viewed race and ethnicity as obstacles to leadership, whereas most white participants did not share this perspective,” the study pointed out. “These differing views may help keep leadership disparities in place as built-in systemic biases such as informal hiring and selection processes, along with unconscious stereotypes.”
A total of 488 participants completed the survey, said Harris in a recent MSR Zoom call. She said that nearly 75% of Black respondents cited barriers to advancement as a key concern.
“This is the first research project that has ever made me cry,” admitted Harris. “I say the biggest thing for me is seeing the difference of opinion” based on race.
“There are a lot of differences of opinion…and it was very stark in this survey. To say the least, the first time that I’ve ever read through participant responses, and was really floored there are people that are still out there that have these strong views against diversity, against inclusion, and don’t think it’s important or don’t see the value in it, and that really hurt me.”
Harris has over a dozen years’ experience as an AT, beginning at a predominately Black high school in Miami for three years, then as AT coordinator at Florida International University for six years before joining A.T. Still in 2021 in her current roles.
Additionally, Harris said, doing research “I tend to find a problem, and I found out that research is a really fun way to being able to prove it with numbers. It’s been a really cool way to be an activist.
“I say the biggest thing for me is seeing the difference of opinion based on race.”
“It was an open-ended survey, and when it came back, some of the results were very striking,” Harris pointed out. “We were able to see that everybody has equal desire, but for whatever reason, Black individuals aren’t making it into the higher ranks.
“White individuals felt that race had no bearing on their opportunity. They said if you work hard enough, anybody can be a leader, right?”
“I’m in my 13th year. I haven’t had any direct experiences of discrimination or bias in my career,” said Harris. But as her study pointed out, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
“I think there’s 57,000 athletic trainers who are certified by our organization,” reports Harris, a member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA), for which she has chaired several committees. “Black athletic trainers account specifically for about 4% of the athletic training profession.”
Locally, Ryan Dotson has been a University of Minnesota AT for men’s basketball since 2020, and previously the athletic trainer for women’s rowing (2008-11).
“We obviously acknowledge that there’s a lack of Black athletic trainers in the profession,” Harris said. “I think people are scared in the current climate that we’re in to even say the word diversity. I would say one thing is that I can’t say it enough.”
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.