Athletic Training

South River School District Athletic Training Department

What is athletic training?

Who are athletic trainers (ATs) and what do they do? The National Athletic Trainers’ Association defines athletic trainers as “highly qualified, multi-skilled health care professionals specifically trained in the prevention, examination, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of medical conditions and emergent, acute and chronic injuries. They are unique health care providers specifically trained in the prevention of injury and illness. ATs are health care professionals who provide a safer approach to work, life and sport.”

Athletic training is recognized by the American Medical Association, Health Resources Services Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services as an allied health care profession. In the state of New Jersey, all ATs working in the secondary school setting must hold three (3) credentials: National Athletic Training Association Board of Certification’s Certification, The New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners’ Licensure and the New Jersey Department of Education’s Standard Certificate.

 

 

Meet South River School District's Athletic Trainer

Barbara Bernstein, MA, LAT, ATC

Native to Central New Jersey, Barbara Bernstein graduated from East Brunswick High School where she spent three years as an athletic training student aide, under the supervision of their longest standing Athletic Trainer (AT). 

Ms. Bernstein holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Athletic Training and Exercise Physiology with a minor in Biology from Ohio University (1993) and a Master’s Degree in Athletic Training and Exercise Physiology from the University of Pittsburgh (1995). Licensed in the state of New Jersey in 1995 and nationally certified in 1993, Ms. Bernstein always knew she wanted to return to her roots in the secondary school setting. She wanted to set the example of what an athletic trainer’s care should be from the first experience.

Hired by the South River Board of Education in September of 1995, Ms. “B”, as all the kids call her, has been the sole District Athletic Trainer.  Over these past decades, she has steadily raised the standard of care for the student athletes of South River.

She is a member in good standing with the National Athletic Trainer’s Association (NATA), the Eastern Athletic Trainer’s Association (EATA), and the Athletic Trainers’ Society of New Jersey (ATSNJ).  She has actively served on several committees within the ATSNJ including the Secondary School Committee. Ms. “B” has devoted herself to the athletes of South River.