Membership 2026: Growing the Profession One Post at a Time
By Kristin Carroll
Axel Moncada, MA, LAT, ATC, head athletic trainer for Papillion La Vista High School in Pappillion, Nebraska, has his sights set on building the profession. In his third year of certification, Moncada is already aiming for leadership, expressing a desire to one day take on the role of NATA president.
“I have professional goals, but then also committee goals,” Moncada said. “My end goal is to work for the Olympics. I’ll just give it a try, see where life takes me. And then the other goal is I want to be the president of our state, but also I want to eventually move up to be the NATA president one day, too.”
Moncada became an NATA member during his graduate program. He said he’s fortunate to work for a school district that values its ATs and pays for his NATA membership as well as continuing education. Moncada said his favorite part of NATA is attending the NATA Clinical Symposia & AT Expo. He was in New Orleans for NATA 2024 and Orlando for NATA 2025, and said he learned more about what ATs can do.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life after getting a job,” he said. “But then, going to NOLA and seeing all the speakers talk about burnout. … Being able to attend those seminars helped me a lot. I brought it back to Nebraska to see how I could put it to use.”
He said the networking opportunities at convention are great for new athletic trainers.
“Everyone’s really friendly and approachable,” he said. “As a student, I was taught to go talk to people, but I was scared. Once I became certified, I realized they’re just people. Just go up and introduce yourself. If they want to take the time to know you, great. If not, then that's their loss. You got other things that you can work on, other opportunities you can go for.”
This networking led to his Instagram and TikTok channels (@theathletictrainingspot) where he advocates for the profession.
At NATA 2024, Moncada said he saw other influencers and, despite feeling a bit star struck, decided to speak with them. At first, he thought he didn’t have time to pursue social media, but around Thanksgiving 2024, he had an idea and ran with it, posting a day-in-the-life video on his feed.
At NATA 2025, he learned people were watching his videos. He and other ATs across different settings and states collaborated to produce day-in-the-life videos highlighting the work each does. These videos take a humorous look at different schedules ATs have, showing how an AT in the collegiate setting may need to be up at 4 a.m. for the first workout of the day while an AT in the secondary school setting can sleep in.
“They’re great friends. It’s honestly one of those friendships you’re going to have forever,” he said of the relationships NATA has brought to his life. “NATA has helped me build those relationships, and even more with athletic trainers who may not make videos, but they come up to tell me they like what I’m doing.”
Moncada is also involved with his district and state associations. He attended his first Mid America Athletic Trainers' Association meeting in 2023, where he learned about committee opportunities.
“I talked to some people, and they told me to talk to Denise Marshall, MS, LAT, ATC [current president of the Nebraska State Athletic Trainers’ Association],” he said. “That opened a lot of doors for me, and I thought, ‘Let’s see what I can do within the profession.’ After that, I started putting my name out there everywhere.”
He now serves as the social media chair for NSATA.
“My end goal is to promote athletic training, to get to the kids in high school [interested in athletic training],” he said. “I built [my channel] up to advocate for the profession, take a day-in-the-life approach. I want to show the stuff we do behind the scenes. It’s not just taping and water.”
He also creates content for ATs serving Spanish-speaking students, featuring basic medical terminology in Spanish. In one video, he covers the features and injuries of the lower leg; an ankle sprain is esguince de tobillo.
This ties into his other goal for growing the profession: increasing diversity. Along with leading social media in Nebraska, Moncada is also the chair of the NSATA Ethnic Diversity Advisory Committee. In this role, he goes into high schools and colleges in the state to talk to students about athletic training and how they can get involved. He’s created materials in Spanish that explain the profession and opportunities within it. He also works with AT students to see what kind of support they may need to continue in the profession after graduation.
“I’ve had students who don’t speak English come up to the booth and they want to know more,” he said, adding that students will ask friends to translate. “I can step in and talk to them. I give them the flyer and it has my contact information on it so they can learn more.”
Finally, while he didn’t win, Moncada just ran for secretary in Nebraska. He learned he was the first minority on the ballot for any position in the state.
“That’s just something I’m proud of, putting my name out there,” he said.
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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.
