Students at Utica Community Schools can get hands-on experience through the district’s sports medicine program, which is now available for a full year as opposed to one semester.
By: Sarah Wright | Shelby-Utica News | Published October 20, 2025
UTICA — Utica Community Schools has expanded its sports medicine program, part of the district’s career and technical education offerings, from one semester to a full year.
Career and technical education provides programs in woodworking, welding, medical health sciences, design engineering, education and family consumer sciences, computer programming and information technology, architecture and construction trades, automotive and small engine technologies, and business among other educational opportunities.
“We are committed to providing students with these instructional choices to further refine their employability skills and help them identify a rewarding career,” the Career and Technical Education page on the UCS website states. “Students enrolled in Career and Technical Education are better prepared for the collaborative nature of college and career.
“Students have the option of investigating a variety of interesting pathways, including (but not limited to) careers in Arts and Communications, Business Management, Industrial Engineering, Human Services and Health Sciences.”
Utica Community Schools stated in a press release that sports medicine is a $15 billion industry, according to a report from Grand View Research, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the field will add nearly 2,500 jobs over the next 10 years.
The sports medicine course at UCS gives students “extensive training and hands-on experience” in the field and puts them in a position to earn a nationally recognized credential as a National Academy of Sports Medicine Personal Trainer.
“The students can make it a career and earn money, or it could be a springboard to further their medical training where the patient contact hours support their acceptance into a medical program,” Eisenhower High School teacher Philip Crum said in a press release.
UCS has been offering the course for around three years and currently 90 students are enrolled in the course this semester.
For the first semester, students will learn to provide a wide range of treatments and assist with rehab protocols. In the second semester, students will be involved in athletic assessments and athletic conditioning. During the course, the students will have the opportunity to shadow Crum while he works with UCS teams.
“The students follow CPT (Certified Personal Trainer) practices such as taping, exercise techniques and nutrition,” UCS Coordinator of Public Relations Jennifer Kane said in an email.
Greer Nimmo is a student participating in the sports medicine course.
“I play sports and this class really interests me,” Nimmo said in a press release. “I am planning on either physical therapy or athletic training, and this course has been showing me the right way to do things.”
The students also appreciate being able to learn the right and wrong ways to prepare athletes for games.
“For instance, when you tape, it is supposed to pull your ankle to the outside instead of rolling it inside,” Macy Pfaff, another student participating in the sports medicine program, said in a press release. “It will prevent a lot of injuries.”
Crum also said in a press release that he hopes his students will take away an appreciation of “applied anatomy and physiology and that there is science behind all the decision-making processes. I hope they are inspired to work harder and see the impact that they can have on their patients and clients.”
For more information, visit uticak12.org.