Membership 2026: Coming Back to NATA
By Kristin Carroll
“I think I’ll be an NATA member for life now,” said Kelli Florio, LAT, ATC, CSCS, an athletic trainer in the armed forces setting. “But I think it took something that directly impacted me to understand exactly what NATA was doing; for me to understand where that money was going.”
In the midst of a career change in 2022, Florio let her 13-year NATA membership expire. At that time, she wasn’t seeing the value of the membership or how the association helped athletic trainers, she said, adding that she initially joined as a student at the encouragement of her professors and mentors.
“[Joining NATA] was just something you did,” she said.
She came back to NATA for discounted registration to the 76th NATA Clinical Symposia & AT Expo this June in Orlando. She said she found a home within the association after talks with leadership about an issue close to her heart.
Florio, like many athletic trainers, started as a high school athlete playing soccer. She attended a small college in Kansas, which happened to offer her a soccer scholarship and had an athletic training program. After graduation, she landed at Crieghton University, where she fell in love with Division I athletics and working different sports. Today, she works in the armed forces setting at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
“I quietly left the college setting, and I just happened to be at the right place at the right time,” she said. “I didn't want to leave North Carolina, because I really loved it, and the H2F program was starting at the same time. So, it was an easy exit in December 2021, and then I started January 2022 with H2F.”
H2F – Holistic Health and Fitness – is a program of the U.S. Army that seeks to improve soldier health and readiness. H2F moves away from a one-size-fits-all model and acknowledges that every soldier is unique and different units have different missions. The program addresses five readiness domains: physical, mental, nutrition, sleep and spiritual.
After transitioning to the armed forces setting, a friend later mentioned that Army Special Forces had built-in athletic trainers for a long time. She saw three openings at Fort Bragg and applied.
“It came full circle to a point with the military setting that just made sense,” she said. “I really enjoy it. I enjoy the utilization.”
In early 2025, the Army announced it was removing ATs from the H2F program in favor of strength and conditioning coaches. Florio sprang into action, and so did NATA.
At NATA 2026, Florio had conversations with NATA leadership that helped her better understand how dues were used. She said she gained a better understanding of why some conversations had to be kept confidential, but said she appreciated the transparency NATA had around the H2F issue.
NATA helped members send more than 13,000 letters to Congress and NATA Government Affairs staff met with multiple legislators, urging them to keep ATs in the H2F program. In July, Cognito Systems, a contractor for the Army’s H2F program, shared it had received word that the decision had been reversed.
For athletic trainers on the fence about renewing or joining, Florio said, “If you want to understand how it impacts you, find something within the profession you care about, and see where that money is being utilized for that. … Figure out what affect you, then ask NATA how they can help.”
Renew or Join Today!
Take your career, knowledge and connections beyond with NATA. Join today or renew your membership by Dec. 31 to continue accessing the resources and community that keep athletic trainers at the forefront of health care.
