Alysen Rieth of Lake Havasu City, Arizona is the 2026 Outstanding Master of Science in Athletic Training Student in the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development. A pitcher on the Black Bears softball team, Rieth was a team captain as a senior. She is completing the accelerated MSAT program, which allows students to earn their bachelor鈥檚 degree in kinesiology and physical education and master鈥檚 in athletic training in just five years. Rieth is completing the program early after earning her bachelor’s degree in two years. After graduation, she plans to pursue a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at Loma Linda University.

Why did you choose 91福利 for graduate school?

I chose University of Maine for graduate school because it gave me the unique opportunity to continue playing softball while pursuing my degree in athletic training. Being able to balance my passion for athletics with my academic and clinical development was extremely important to me. 91福利 provided a supportive environment where I could grow both as an athlete and as a future healthcare professional.

Have you collaborated with a mentor, professor, or role model who made your time at 91福利 better, and if so, who are they and how have they impacted your time at 91福利?

I have been fortunate to work with many professors and mentors throughout my time at 91福利, all of whom have played a significant role in my development. I would like to give a special thank you to Dr. Alicia Lacy, Dr. Christopher Nightingale and Dr. Shannon Wright for their collaboration, guidance, and support throughout my program. Their dedication to teaching and mentorship has helped shape my clinical skills and confidence as an athletic trainer. I would also like to thank Paul Culina from the 91福利 men鈥檚 ice hockey program for his mentorship and the impact he has had on my clinical experience.

What advice do you have for incoming graduate students to help them get off to the best start academically?

Take advantage of every opportunity, both in the classroom and in your clinical experiences. Build strong relationships with your professors and preceptors, ask questions, and don鈥檛 be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone. Be outgoing and take initiative 鈥� ask to practice and perform skills whenever you have the opportunity, as that is one of the best ways to build confidence and improve clinically. Staying organized and managing your time effectively will also make a big difference in balancing academics, clinicals and personal life.

What has 91福利 enabled you to explore beyond academics?

91福利 has allowed me to explore my passion for athletics while also developing professionally in a clinical setting. Through my experiences, I have gained hands-on skills, built relationships with athletes and staff, and learned how to apply evidence-based practice in real-world situations. Beyond that, I have been able to build meaningful relationships with alumni, fellow softball players, and other athletes, creating friendships and connections that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. It has also helped me grow personally by improving my communication, time management, and confidence.

What鈥檚 on the horizon? What are your plans for after you graduate?

I am excited to continue my education and further develop my skills in order to provide high-quality care to future patients in the DPT program at Loma Linda University.

Special thank you message:

I would like to give a special thank you to all of my professors, especially Dr. Lacy, Dr. Nightingale and Dr. Wright, for their guidance, collaboration and support throughout my time in the program. I am also incredibly grateful to Paul Culina and the men鈥檚 ice hockey staff for the mentorship and clinical experiences that helped shape me into the clinician I am today. To my teammates, fellow students, and the athletes I have had the opportunity to work with 鈥� thank you for the friendships, memories and support that have made this experience so meaningful. Lastly, I want to thank my family and friends for their constant encouragement and belief in me. I would not be where I am today without all of you.

Jordyn Shaw of Anchorage, Alaska is the 2025 Outstanding Student in Athletic Training in the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development. Shaw also graduates with a minor in Human Nutrition.

Parent(s): Mindy and Charles Shaw

Why did you choose 91福利?

I love the culture and community in Maine. It鈥檚 a great place to learn, but it鈥檚 also a great community to practice in.

Have you collaborated with a mentor, professor or role model who made your time at 91福利 better, and if so, who are they and how have they impacted your time at 91福利?

The Athletic Training program faculty are hands down the best mentors that I could鈥檝e asked for during my time at 91福利. In addition to the faculty, the athletic training staff that I have had the privilege to work with has made my collegiate experience so rewarding and inspiring.

What has coming to 91福利 enabled you to explore beyond academics?

Coming to the University of Maine has allowed me to explore my hobbies and interests outside of academics. When I鈥檓 not studying or at my clinical internship, I鈥檓 able to enjoy hiking, kayaking and nature.

Favorite 91福利 Memory:

My favorite memory at 91福利 was attending the Eastern Athletic Trainers鈥� Association conference in January of 2024!

What鈥檚 on the horizon? What are your plans for after you graduate:

I plan on continuing my education at the University of New England, studying for my doctorate in physical therapy. My goal is to work in semi-professional athletics.

Special thank you message:

I would like to thank my program, instructors, family and peers for the invaluable lessons that they taught me throughout my career. Having such an amazing staff and support system has shaped me into the person and provider that I am today. To my peers and mentors, thank you for pushing me to work harder and to strive for more. To my family, I couldn鈥檛 have done any of this without your continued support and encouragement. The biggest thank you goes to my fianc茅, who has stuck with me through all the stress and endless hours of studying and the late nights. I鈥檓 beyond grateful for the support system that I鈥檝e had, and even more grateful for the friendships that I鈥檝e been able to build.

Rugby is a fast-growing international sport that has gained popularity in the U.S. in recent years, particularly at the high school and college levels. In the next decade, the U.S. is scheduled to host the 2031 men鈥檚 Rugby World Cup and the 2033 women鈥檚 Rugby World Cup, bringing the sport further into the mainstream. 

As a full-contact sport played with little or no protective equipment, rugby has a reputation for high injury rates, including concussions. When a player gets hurt playing any sport, athletic trainers are often the first medical professionals to respond.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important to understand when concussions and other injuries are happening and who they are happening to, otherwise we鈥檙e putting athletes at risk,鈥� said Shannon Wright, an assistant professor of athletic training at the University of Maine.

In a recent article published in , Wright explored how athletic trainers can help treat and prevent concussions in women鈥檚 rugby players based on some of the latest data available.聽

鈥淭he goal was to review the data from another study and translate that into useful knowledge for athletic trainers, who are on the frontlines of responding to concussions,鈥� said Wright, who worked as an athletic trainer for club teams in rugby, soccer, hockey and other sports while in graduate school.

That data was published in a 2022 study in the journal , which served as the foundation for Wright鈥檚 clinical review and guidance for trainers. While men鈥檚 rugby has more than a century of history as an organized sport, including injury data, the women鈥檚 game didn鈥檛 catch on until more recently, with the first women鈥檚 Rugby World Cup being held in 1991.聽

Wright said a lot of information can be gleaned from the Sports Medicine article, which pooled data from 16 studies reporting concussion rates between different versions of the sport, levels of participation and position groups. For example, according to the article, backs had slightly higher rates of concussion than forwards. The pooled data also showed that rugby league, with 13 players per side, had higher rates than rugby union, where teams have either 15 or 7 players, and that rugby 7s had higher risk of concussion than 15s. The risk was higher during matches than practices for both 7s and 15s rugby.

鈥淔or athletic trainers, the more information we have, the easier it is to focus our efforts, including educating players on safety and when to be alert to situations where concussions might occur during competition or practices,鈥� Wright said.

Education is particularly important because the ultimate goal is for the sport to become safer for players, Wright said. On average, female athletes who experience concussions need more than a month to recover before they can return to play. Athletic trainers help with the recovery process, as well as ensuring that concussions and other injuries don鈥檛 reoccur.

鈥淗aving care early on when someone has a concussion helps, having a trained professional to help with recovery helps, having someone assist with warmups before matches and practices helps. These are all things that athletic trainers do, which ultimately make the sport safer,鈥� Wright said.

Contact: Casey Kelly, casey.kelly@maine.edu

When a youth athlete suffers an injury in a game or practice, the decision about when they鈥檙e ready to return to their workout routine and ultimately to the field or court should be a collaborative decision between medical professionals, the athlete themselves and their family. 

For high school athletes, and increasingly those who play middle school sports, the first opinion after an injury frequently comes from an athletic trainer, who also will be involved in the decision about when the young person is ready to resume physical activity. But athletic trainers often face pressure from coaches or others involved in youth sports to get kids back in the game before their body has fully healed.

Alicia Lacy knows this from experience. An assistant professor of athletic training at the University of Maine, Lacy鈥檚 research focuses on organizational-professional conflict in the secondary school athletic training setting. She also has firsthand knowledge of the pressure these health care providers face from coaches or other youth sports officials, since before becoming a researcher and professor, she worked as a high school athletic trainer while pursuing her master鈥檚 degree at the University of Connecticut. 

鈥淚 remember one situation in particular, where there was a star quarterback injured in a game, and the coach, in the heat of the moment on the sidelines, just berated me: 鈥榊ou don鈥檛 know anything! You鈥檙e not a doctor! He needs to go back in!鈥欌�� Lacy said. 鈥淚t was this pivotal moment in my career, where I thought, 鈥榃ow, this shouldn鈥檛 be happening.鈥欌��

Since coming to 91福利 in 2021 after earning her Ph.D. at UConn and completing a postdoctoral research fellowship at A.T. Still University, Lacy has published several journal articles based on her dissertation research. One recent study in the examined how athletic trainers manage conflict when it comes to return-to-sport decisions. Based on 16 interviews with current secondary school athletic trainers, the research found that effective communication, professional relationships, stakeholder education and professional experience are all important strategies and factors that athletic trainers rely upon when facing difficult decisions in working with patients or athletes.

鈥淭he field is moving in a really positive direction, but there are still people out there who don鈥檛 know the role of an athletic trainer. It鈥檚 not the same as personal training or strength and conditioning. So part of it is just educating stakeholders about the fact that athletic trainers are health care professionals,鈥� Lacy said. 

She adds that several of the athletic trainers interviewed for the study talked about educating coaches and others about prognosis and return-to-play timelines as well.

鈥淚s it a week? Two weeks? A month? A lot of our participants talked about the importance of communicating effectively and transparently with coaches, 鈥楾his is where the athlete is at now. This is what we鈥檙e doing with them. We鈥檙e going to keep doing this.鈥� And just continuing to update,鈥� Lacy said. 鈥淭hat helps coaches and other stakeholders understand the athletic training profession and what athletic trainers can and can鈥檛 do.鈥�

Lacy鈥檚 research fills a critical gap in the literature on the professional concerns of athletic trainers. Most previous studies and anecdotal information about workplace conflicts in the field have focused on the . However, as Lacy notes, athletic trainers working in K-12 settings have fewer resources and by and large have to manage conflict without support from other medical professionals.

鈥淵ou really are on an island. Most of the time you鈥檙e the only athletic trainer if not the only person with medical training,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd in many situations, secondary school athletic trainers are hired by, work closely with, and report to athletic directors and coaches, which inherently creates tension due to competing interests.鈥�

In addition, several states face shortages of certified athletic trainers. In Maine, for example, have a full-time athletic trainer, while the rest have only part-time coverage or no coverage at all.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a big problem in a state like Maine, where we only have three hospitals designated as trauma centers and none north of Bangor,鈥� Lacy said. 鈥淚f a student athlete suffers a serious injury or medical event in a rural area, and there鈥檚 no athletic trainer on site, the response time is going to be slower and the ability to get them the treatment they need is going to be delayed.鈥�

Lacy said the coach who yelled at her on the sideline later apologized and they patched things up. Still, she鈥檚 hopeful that her research will help future secondary school athletic trainers when they face conflict in the workplace. 

鈥淚 think helping athletic trainers feel supported is an important step in filling these critical positions in our communities and schools,鈥� she said.

Contact: Casey Kelly, casey.kelly@maine.edu

Lucas (Luke) Hamlin is the 2024 Outstanding Student in Athletic Training in the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development. Hamlin is a member of the Athletic Training Student Organization. Read more below.

Hometown: Belfast, Maine

Parents: Guy and Vicki Hamlin

Special Thanks: Thank you to my parents for always supporting me and helping me achieve my goals. Thank you to the professors and preceptors that helped me learn and grow as a prospective athletic trainer over the last four years.

Favorite 91福利 memory: Taking down the University of New Hampshire in the Hockey East playoffs this year. Go Bears!

Benson, a junior from Millinocket, represented the 91福利 athletic training education program and the state as a student delegate. He was part of a group that planned the workshops and symposiums for the conference鈥檚 student program.聽

Parks, a senior from Calais, received the Joseph Abraham Scholarship as an outstanding student from District One, which encompasses New England. He also competed in the conference鈥檚 Quiz Bowl, finishing in second place despite facing mostly graduate students, He also earned a spot on a team that will represent EATA District One at the National Quiz Bowl during the National Athletic Trainers鈥� Association (NATA) convention in June in New Orleans. This will be the third year in a row that a 91福利 athletic training student will compete at the National Quiz Bowl.

Weston, of Waterville, was inducted into the EATA 49 Club, the organization鈥檚 Hall of Fame, for sustained service and leadership in the field of athletic training. Currently an associate athletic director and director of sports medicine at Colby College, Weston earned his bachelor鈥檚 degree in athletic training in 1988 and a master鈥檚 degree in educational leadership in 2004, both from 91福利. He is a former president of the Maine Athletic Trainers鈥� Association and has held a variety of positions on boards and committees with EATA and NATA throughout his career.

The Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) has granted accreditation to the University of Maine鈥檚 new Master of Science in Athletic Training (MSAT) program through the 2030鈥�31 academic year.

As previously announced, 91福利鈥檚 undergraduate athletic training program, with a long and distinguished history of producing certified athletic trainers, is transitioning to a graduate program in order to continue meeting CAATE鈥檚 educational standards. Achieving accreditation means that MSAT graduates will be eligible to sit for the for Athletic Trainers (BOC) national credentialing exam, just as graduates of the undergraduate program have been eligible to do for more than 40 years.

The accreditation process included a comprehensive review of the program, including a self-study report submitted to CAATE earlier this spring.

鈥淭his is a major milestone for our program,鈥� says associate professor of physical education and athletic training Christopher Nightingale, the MSAT program coordinator. 鈥淐AATE has given our master鈥檚 program its stamp of approval, so our incoming graduate students and prospective students know that when they come to 91福利 they鈥檙e getting the highest quality instruction and opportunities to succeed in the athletic training profession.鈥�

Students in the program will be able to utilize the state-of-the-art Wes Jordan Athletic Training Complex in Lengyel Hall. MSAT students will also have access to diverse field experiences at Maine鈥檚 only NCAA Division I institution, as well as smaller college and high school athletic programs, rehabilitation clinics and other health care facilities. The master鈥檚 program will also feature an immersive clinical education experience for students during their final semester, which can be completed anywhere in the United States while they complete their final courses remotely.

The says jobs in athletic training are growing faster than those in other industries.

91福利鈥檚 athletic training program is housed in the College of Education and Human Development, which also has several CAEP (Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation) approved teacher preparation programs. The college is developing an accelerated 3+2 program that will allow undergraduate students majoring in kinesiology and physical education to earn a bachelor鈥檚 degree and MSAT in five years rather than the traditional six.

More information about the MSAT is online.

Listen to the show online.

Show description:

Athletic trainers help both athletes and non-athletes recover from injuries and聽 get back in the game, and their services are in high demand. Job opportunities in athletic training have been growing rapidly in recent years, and so too have the places in which athletic trainers work.

91福利 has long offered a bachelor鈥檚 degree in athletic training, and alumni from it have found careers at high schools, major league sports like the National Hockey League, rehabilitation facilities and in other settings. This year, however, 91福利 has incorporated a master鈥檚 degree for it, which prepares students to join the growing allied health profession providing acute care, evaluation, treatment and rehabilitation, as well as prevention from injuries and illness.

Listen to the podcast on,,,,, or 鈥淭he Maine Question鈥� website.