Prevalence of Injuries in Collegiate Intramural Sports: The Critical Role of Athletic Trainers

The field of athletic training is continually expanding, reaching a wider range of active populations. Initially focused on secondary school, collegiate, and professional sports; athletic trainers are now employed in a multitude of settings. Despite these advancements, there remains a large population of athletes who still lack the necessary medical coverage, Intramural Sports. The National Collegiate Health Assessment (NCHA) surveys from 2022-2024 showed that 8.9-13.5% of collegiate student populations participate in intramural sports. According to the United States Census results published in 2023, during 2022 there was 17.3 million students enrolled in a college within the US. Based on this data, there could be around 1.7 million students in the US participating in intramural sports. There are three main questions that are investigated within this study: What injuries are the most common at intramural sports? Why is an athletic trainer needed within intramural sports? Who is most at risk for injury in intramural sports? Data were collected from the records of all 125 injuries that occurred during the fall 2024 intramural sports season. Injury prevalences was analyzed across several variables, including sport type, indoor vs. outdoor environment, injury location of the body, athlete age, time of day, and most common types of injuries. This study was approved by the university’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) which determined that the study does not meet the criteria for human subjects research. Based on the results of this study, a certified athletic trainer should spend the majority of time when covering intramural sports at basketball. Additionally, if there is only one athletic trainer employed for intramural sports, they should be stationed at the indoor sports complex. During the fall 2024 semester, there was a cervical spine fracture that occurred in indoor soccer. This one injury necessitates the need for athletic trainers within intramural sports.