NATM Spotlight: From Rink Kid to Pro Hockey  AT—Sara Latos Keeps Them on the Ice

For Athletic Trainer Sara Latos, working with the Tulsa Oilers hockey team means expecting the unexpected—especially when it comes to injuries.

“There's almost always stitches or a missing tooth. There’s always blood,” Latos said. “I’m very comfortable with blood these days. You can’t be squeamish.”

Now in her second season with the Oilers, Latos has spent much of her life around hockey. Her father played professionally before becoming a coach, meaning the rink was practically her second home growing up.

“I grew up in the rink. I’ve watched it my whole life. I grew up watching my cousins play, my brother played,” she said. “I do enjoy how rough and tough it is. I grew up with a lot of boys so it’s a very rough and tough family. This is a very familiar sport for me.”

Despite her deep roots in sports, Latos originally thought she would pursue nursing.

“I knew I wanted to go into health care, but I’d grown up playing sports my whole life. It was such a harsh change to all of a sudden not be playing sports,” she said.

After hearing a presentation from the athletic training program while attending the University of Kansas, everything clicked.

“One day, people from the athletic training program came into one of my classes and did a presentation on what athletic trainers do and I thought, ‘That sounds perfect,’ and here we are.”

Her path eventually led to hockey programs at Kansas, the University of Montana, and the University of Maine before joining OSU Sports Medicine as the Oilers’ Athletic Trainer.

“I knew I wanted to work with a professional hockey team, that was my goal,” Latos said.

Oilers coach Rob Murray credits Latos for helping keep the organization running smoothly.

“It’s been seamless. Between Sara and I, communication is essential, especially our ability to communicate about injuries,” Murray said.

For Latos, Athletic Trainers play a central role on any team.

“I think they’re the glue of the team, they hold the team together,” she said. “We’re very important in that sense of keeping the teams together.”

Read the full story here! Happy National Athletic Training Month! #NATM2026