DURHAM, N.H. - University of New Hampshire senior Caleb Couture's recent internship couldn't be further from the stereotype of photocopying and coffee-fetching. The athletic training major joined the Jacksonville Jaguars during their training camp (July 26 - Sept. 4, 2011) and worked alongside the NFL team's athletic training staff on and off the field.

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I learned a ton," says the Rollinsford native, son of Marc and Martha Couture.

Couture, a four-year football and lacrosse player at Somersworth High School, was one of six interns working with the team's permanent athletic training staff. He was involved in the day-to-day operations of keeping the players healthy before, during and after practices. He was selected for the internship after being recommended by faculty of UNH's athletic training program and the professional athletic trainers he has worked with when assisting UNH's track and field and men's hockey teams.

Couture says the experience enhanced his knowledge of athletic training but also confirmed for him that his UNH education is serving him well. "We really have a good athletic training program," he says. The experience also sharpened his career focus. "Now that I've had this experience and seen what athletic trainers do down there, I have a goal: I want to get back to the NFL at some point," he says.

A longtime Patriots fan, Couture acknowledges that his allegiance has shifted to the south. "The Jaguars are probably my number one team now," he says. "It's cool to watch them on Sundays and say, 'I know that guy.'"

UNH's athletic training major, an option of the kinesiology department in the College of Health and Human Services, educates and prepares professionals in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment, and rehabilitation of injury and illness sustained by individuals engaged in physical activity. Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) since 1992, the major has 60 students.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.

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Photograph available to download: /unhtoday/news/cj_nr/2011/nov/bp09training_01.jpg
Caption: UNH senior Caleb Couture of Rollinsford was an athletic training intern with the Jacksonville Jaguars during the 2011 preseason. Here, he is at the Buffalo Bills' Ralph Wilson Stadium, where he traveled with the Jaguars for a preseason game.
Credit: Courtesy of Caleb Couture.