Under the supervision of certified athletic trainers, several athletic training students from the MSU Department of Sports Medicine and Athletic Training (SMAT) provided medical coverage for the Special Olympics Bowling tournament last weekend. Certified Athletic Trainers Amy Smith (second year graduate student in the MSAT program) and Kristin Tivener (SMAT faculty) organized and supervised medical coverage and services for this event. Special Olympics is the world’s largest sports organization with nearly 4 million athletes in more than 170 countries. The initiative of Special Olympics is to activate youth, engage kids with intellectual disabilities, build communities, and improve the health of participating athletes. Special Olympics Missouri (SOMO) has nearly 17,000 athletes and organizes a variety of events all over the State of Missouri throughout the year. For more information on SOMO, visit www.somo.org.
The SMAT department plans on continuing their involvement in SOMO by providing medical coverage to a winter basketball tournament and the summer games. If you would like to get involved as part of the medical team for these upcoming events, contact Kristin Tivener at KTivener@MissouriState.edu.