§ 4151. Definitions

As used in this chapter:

(1) “Athlete” means any individual participating in fitness training and conditioning, sports, or other athletic competition, practices, or events requiring physical strength, agility, flexibility, range of motion, speed, or stamina.

(2) “Athletic injury” means a disruption of tissue continuity, physiological function, or neurological function that is sustained by an athlete when that injury:

(A) results from that individual’s participation in or training for sports, fitness training, or other athletic competition; or

(B) restricts or prevents that individual from participation in those activities.

(3) “Athletic training” means the application of principles and methods of conditioning, the prevention, immediate care, recognition, evaluation, assessment, and treatment of athletic and orthopedic injuries within the scope of education and training, the organization and administration of an athletic training program, and the education and counseling of athletes, coaches, family members, medical personnel, communities, and groups in the area of care and prevention of athletic and orthopedic injuries.

(4) “Licensed athletic trainer” means a person licensed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(5) “Conditioning” means programs designed to enhance the following physiological areas: flexibility, muscle strength, muscle endurance, neuromuscular coordination, and cardio-respiratory endurance that will assist in improved athletic performance specific to the sport in which the athlete participates. Conditioning includes programs used before the season, and programs to reestablish performance during the season.

(6) “Director” means the Director of the Office of Professional Regulation.

(7) “Disciplinary action” or “disciplinary cases” includes any action taken by the administrative law officer established in 3 V.S.A. § 129 against a licensed athletic trainer or applicant premised upon a finding of wrongdoing or unprofessional conduct. It includes all sanctions of any kind, denying, suspending, or revoking licenses, issuing warnings, and other sanctions.

(8) “Orthopaedic injury” means a disruption of musculoskeletal tissue continuity that is sustained by a physically active individual. An individual with this type of injury may be treated by an athletic trainer as long as the individual does not have any underlying pathologies that would affect treatment.

(9) “Physically active individual” means an individual who is well conditioned, healthy, and free from underlying pathology, who participates in athletic or recreational activities that require physical skills and utilize strength, power, endurance, speed, flexibility, range of motion, or agility.

(10) “Referral” means sending a determination, recorded in writing, by an allopathic or osteopathic physician, podiatrist, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, physical therapist, naturopath, dentist, or chiropractor, that an athlete or physically active individual should be treated by an athletic trainer, and that such person is free of an underlying pathology that would affect treatment.

(11) [Repealed.]

(12) “Underlying pathology” means any disease process, including neuromuscular disease, diabetes, spinal cord injuries, and systemic diseases. (Added 1997, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1999; amended 1999, No. 133 (Adj. Sess.), § 31; 2003, No. 60, § 23; 2017, No. 48, § 31; 2019, No. 30, § 24.)