102 New Athletic Trainer Jobs — Monday, September 21, 2026 - Does Title Protection Matter Without Licensure

102 new athletic trainer jobs hit the board this week, and I am going to be honest with you about this one.

Outside of a handful of roles, this was a thin week for quality. The volume was there. The standout compensation mostly is not and there were a lot of repeat roles being recycled... and there's a reason why those still haven't filled.

Only 50 of the 102 postings, 49 percent, included a real salary range. That is one of the weakest transparency weeks we have had all year. More than half of these employers want you to apply before telling you what the job actually pays. In the current market, with a lot of ATs already in roles, I'd expect those to remain on the board long term.

This batch leaned collegiate again, with 38 of the 102 postings coming from colleges and universities. Unfortunately, that is also where some of the worst compensation is hiding. A Division I women's basketball position starting at $47,250 despite requiring previous collegiate experience and carrying supervisory responsibilities. More on that one in Worth Calling Out.

I also touch on a story of unintended consequences to the California title protection law where a California school district renamed its athletic healthcare position while leaving many of the healthcare responsibilities in place. It raises some important questions about what ATs are actually agreeing to when the work looks like athletic training, but the job isn't called athletic training. More of that in the What's Worth Noting Section.

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Let’s get into the picks.

Director of Athletic Healthcare | Springfield College

Springfield, MA | $90,000–$96,000

The strongest role on the board this week, and one that fits particularly well with the conversation later in this edition.

This is a 12-month fiscal faculty appointment combining director-level leadership of the athletic healthcare team with teaching responsibilities in a CAATE-accredited MSAT program. The $90,000 to $96,000 range reflects the scope of the position.

One line in the posting stands out: the Director exercises independent medical authority for diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, and return to play of student-athletes.

That is meaningful language.

The role also includes budget and inventory oversight, preceptor and teaching responsibilities, and serving as the primary liaison with the team physician, insurance provider, counseling, health, and strength and conditioning departments.

Springfield requires at least four years of experience as a certified athletic trainer, Massachusetts licensure or eligibility, an NPI number, and a CAATE-accredited degree. A post-professional doctorate is preferred. The appointment begins January 2027.

The biggest unanswered question is how the position is actually divided between administration, teaching, and daily patient care. That is worth understanding before stepping into a role this broad.

Certified Athletic Trainer | Champlain Valley School District

Hinesburg, VT | $60,000–$80,000

An $80,000 ceiling for a high school athletic trainer in Vermont is a number worth paying attention to.

This is full program management rather than simply practice and event coverage. Responsibilities include medical records, physicals, injury documentation, facility and inventory oversight, budget input, coverage scheduling, and return-to-play decisions in coordination with physicians, parents, and coaches.

The important piece to understand is the timeline.

The position is posted for the remainder of the 2026–27 school year, which makes it read like a mid-year replacement. The biggest question is whether the position becomes a permanent ongoing role after this year.

Only a bachelor's degree and ATC certification are required, making the salary range particularly notable for someone earlier in their career.

If there is a path to permanent employment and a solid benefits package behind it, this becomes a very interesting secondary-school opportunity.

Athletic Trainer | Bakersfield College

Bakersfield, CA | $77,085–$108,920

This may be the strongest cost-of-living-adjusted collegiate position on the board this week.

A classified community college position with clear salary progression and a ceiling approaching $109,000 is notable on its own. Put it in Bakersfield, one of the more affordable markets in California, and the numbers get more interesting.

The biggest missing piece is benefits and retirement. Those can add substantial value in a public community college system, but the posting does not spell them out.

Still, a transparent salary structure with room for meaningful progression is something more collegiate employers should be taking notes on.

Assistant Athletic Trainer | PWHL Las Vegas

Las Vegas, NV | $65,000–$72,000

The PWHL keeps doing something much of professional sports still does not: posting athletic training positions with an actual salary range.

This is also an expansion franchise, which gives the person hired an opportunity to help establish the medical operation for a new organization.

Nevada has no state income tax, and Las Vegas is much more manageable from a cost-of-living standpoint than many professional sports markets.

The range is respectable, but the posting is light on benefits, retirement, travel expectations, weekly hours, and medical staffing. Those details could make the difference between this being a very good professional sports opportunity and one that looks better on paper than it does in practice.

Certified Athletic Trainer | Athletic Training Solutions

Gainesville, VA | $74,000–$82,000 + $2,500 Sign-On Bonus

One of the stronger industrial ranges on the board this week.

There is no management responsibility attached, and the salary reaches into the low $80,000s with an additional $2,500 sign-on bonus.

Gainesville sits in the outer Washington, D.C. metro, so cost of living is higher than the national average, but considerably more manageable than living closer to D.C. or Arlington.

The posting itself is fairly thin. Before getting serious about it, I would want to know exactly what site you are covering, the employee population, shift schedule, weekend expectations, and how medical oversight and standing orders are structured.

FEATURED POSTINGS THIS WEEK

★ Industrial Athletic Trainer | Recruitment Accelerator Employer

Northwest Ohio | $65,000–$75,000 | Full-Time, 4×10 Schedule

AT Finder is working directly with an employer in Northwest Ohio to recruit an athletic trainer for a full-time industrial position.

The schedule is one of the biggest selling points: 40 hours per week across four 10-hour days. The employer is targeting $65,000–$75,000, giving interested athletic trainers a solid compensation range in a relatively affordable part of the country.

The position includes 15 days of paid time off, accrued at 10 hours per month beginning with employment. Continuing education reimbursement is negotiable, and I’m encouraging candidates to look at the entire package and tell me what they would need for the position to make sense for them.

There is also a separate 20-hour-per-week opportunity available for an athletic trainer interested in part-time industrial work in the area.

If the compensation, four-day schedule, industrial setting, or Northwest Ohio location catches your attention, reach out to me and I can give you more information.

And if you like most of what you see but there’s something that would need to change before you’d seriously consider the position, tell me that too. That conversation is part of what the Recruitment Accelerator is built around.

Interested? Reply directly to this newsletter or contact me at atcfinder@gmail.com

★ Athletic Trainer | Cognito Systems — Army H2F

Killeen, TX — Fort Hood | $60,000–$67,000 + Sign-On and Relocation

The Army's Holistic Health and Fitness program continues to be one of the largest expanding employment areas for athletic trainers outside traditional sports.

In H2F, the athletic trainer works as part of an interdisciplinary performance and healthcare team that can include physical therapists, strength and conditioning coaches, dietitians, cognitive performance specialists, and occupational therapists.

The work includes injury prevention, acute injury management, rehabilitation, and helping soldiers remain physically ready for the demands of their jobs.

This position pays $60,000 to $67,000 and includes sign-on and relocation assistance, medical, dental, and vision coverage, and a 401(k) with up to a 4 percent match that is 100 percent vested.

Killeen also runs below the national average on cost of living, and Texas has no state income tax, which helps the salary go further.

Cognito is also hiring a Brigade Lead Athletic Trainer at the same location for candidates with at least five years of experience, although that posting does not list compensation.

For an AT interested in a highly active population, interdisciplinary care, and getting outside the traditional sports model, H2F remains worth a serious look.

Interested? Reply directly to this newsletter, contact me at atcfinder@gmail.com or Patrick Roscoe at proscoe@plan-sys.com

Worth Calling Out This Week

Assistant/Associate Athletic Trainer | University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Chattanooga, TN | $47,250–$52,200

UT Chattanooga is a Division I program in the Southern Conference.

This position carries primary responsibility for Women's Basketball, coordinates care for Men's Golf, and includes involvement in recruitment, hiring, and staff supervision.

The job requires BOC certification, Tennessee licensure, and at least two years of collegiate experience.

The salary starts at $47,250.

This is not an entry-level assignment.

Women's basketball at the Division I level means significant travel, irregular hours, and substantial independent responsibility. Then add previous collegiate experience and supervisory responsibilities.

The entire posted range is less than $5,000 wide.

So even after an athletic trainer brings the experience the university specifically requires, there is very little room built into the range to compensate them for it.

That is worth calling out.

What's Worth Noting This Week:

California Protected the Title. But Does Title Protection Matter Without Licensure?

If an employer wants you to do the work of an athletic trainer but does not want to call the position athletic trainer, what exactly are you agreeing to?

That is the question I keep coming back to after watching the recent CBS Los Angeles report out of California.

Chaffey Joint Union High School District changed the title of its athletic healthcare position to Athletic Support Specialist. The job description still includes preventive and emergency care for athletic and P.E. injuries. But BOC certification is listed as a preferred qualification rather than a requirement.

California's AB 796 protects the Athletic Trainer title. What it does not do is license athletic trainers or establish a traditional scope of practice that reserves athletic training for licensed ATs. The Medical Board of California still describes athletic trainers as an unregulated profession in the state.

And that raises the question I think we really need to be asking:

Does title protection even matter without licensure?

Because if an employer cannot call someone an Athletic Trainer without the proper credential, but can change the title of the position and continue asking that person to perform many of the same responsibilities, how much protection did the profession actually gain?

That is not to say title protection is meaningless. It matters that someone cannot simply misrepresent themselves as an Athletic Trainer.

But there is a major difference between protecting the words Athletic Trainer and regulating who can actually practice athletic training.

Earlier versions of AB 796 went further. They included an Athletic Training Practice Act, a regulatory structure, and a defined scope of practice. Those pieces did not survive into the law that ultimately passed.

I don't know everything that happened behind the scenes or what was realistically achievable legislatively. But as athletic trainers, I think it is fair to look at what is happening now and ask whether the final version left a pretty significant hole.

Because Chaffey appears to have found the workaround.

Change the title.

Make the credential preferred instead of required.

Keep many of the responsibilities.

If that is possible, what exactly does title protection protect?

And if you are an AT looking at a position like this, I think the questions become pretty simple:

What exactly am I being asked to do?

Who is providing medical oversight and standing behind my decisions?

Does my liability coverage actually cover me in this role?

What happens when I leave and the next person hired is not an AT?

Does this employer actually believe an Athletic Trainer is necessary, or do they just want someone to do the work?

That last one is probably the biggest question for me.

Every AT has to decide for themselves what job they are willing to take. But if an employer previously had an Athletic Trainer position, title protection goes into effect, and the response is to change the title and make the credential optional, I would have a hard time not questioning how much that employer actually values the credential.

Because I don't just want an employer that likes having an AT around.

I want an employer that understands why it needs one.

And that is why I think this is bigger than one California school district.

California finally achieved title protection. That was progress.

But I come back to the same question:

Does that title protection actually matter without licensure?

If an employer can remove the words Athletic Trainer, make our credential optional, and continue expecting many of the same responsibilities, then we need to have an honest conversation about what we actually protected.

The AT Finder Talent Network is free for athletic trainers and always will be. Create your profile at atcfinder.app.

Until next week — stop looking, start finding.