At Your Own Risk

A safer approach to work, life and sport

NATA strives to advocate for athletic trainers by influencing public opinion and policy.  In 2016, NATA developed a public awareness campaign, At Your Own Risk, aimed specifically at educating parents, student athletes, school administrators, legislators and employers on the athletic trainers' role as an expert in prevention and safety. Learn more about how you can support this initiative at your local, state and district levels. 

About At Your Own Risk

The mission of At Your Own Risk is to educate, provide resources and equip the public to act and advocate for safety in work, life and sport. At Your Own Risk is a way of showing employers, workers, legislators, school administrators, parents, and student athletes the value of athletic trainers within the health care team. Without an athletic trainer, you are left to face the inherent safety risks of living, working, and engaging in athletics all on your own. By employing an athletic trainer you provide a safer approach to work, life, and sport.

 

 

Goals

Project goals for this campaign include:

  1. Create ambassadors for the athletic training profession and for causes championed by athletic trainers.
  2. Reinforce the athletic trainer’s position as an authority in athlete safety. 
  3. Clearly define how key stakeholders can get involved to impact change and improve safety for the physically active athlete and/or worker, given their area(s) of influence.   

Stakeholders

Athletic trainers work in many different settings and impact a wide variety of patients. Because of this, At Your Own Risk will be launched in phases in order to strategically communicate with each audience. What is important to a school administrator isn’t the same as what is important to a Fortune 500 company. A tiered approach allows for catered communication to each key stakeholder group in terms that matter to them. 

The common denominator for each of the stakeholder groups we will target is risk - risk of injury, risk of lawsuit, risk of lost profit, the list goes on. Athletic trainers play a sustainable role in risk mitigation. Athletic trainers can help prevent injuries, reduce liability and improve productivity. Athletic trainers offer a safer approach. At Your Own Risk was created to educate key stakeholders on these issues and create ambassadors who will champion for change in their community.

Resources

We have developed a number of resources to help educate the public on these important issues. Some of the resources available online include:

  • Infographics
  • Shareable images with facts, statistics and quotes about prevention and safety
  • Interactive sports safety map that shows all 50 states' sports safety information including: recommended sports safety policy implementation, number of Safe Sports School Awards, AT licensure/regulation status and the percentage of high schools with a full time AT. 
  • Clear calls to action on how stakeholders can advocate for athletic trainers and improved safety in their schools and workplaces. 

Advocate for Change in Your Community 

NATA hopes that athletic trainers and state and district athletic trainers' associations will use At Your Own Risk as a tool to advocate for change in your communities. We have developed resources to help you adopt and adapt this public awareness campaign to fit your local needs. 

The Value of the athletic trainer series

Promotional Resources

We have created a toolkit to equip state and district athletic trainers’ associations with resources and knowledge to effectively promote At Your Own Risk and advocate for change in their communities through improving awareness of risk and the athletic trainers’ role in risk mitigation. We have also created a presentation, important messaging and talking points to assist state and district associations in spreading the word with your members, local media and other important groups. 

customize it 

NATA is proud to offer state and district associations the opportunity to customize select At Your Own Risk collateral for your state or district promotional efforts. For a nominal fee, NATA can customize At Your Own Risk resources, advertisements and/or public service announcement videos with your state or district logo.

These resources can be used in meetings with key decision makers such as employers, school administrators or legislators to help educate and make the case for athletic trainers.

For more information on customizing At Your Own Risk collateral, please contact marketing@nata.org. 

Share Your Story

At Your Own Risk's Share Your Story is a campaign designed to educate the community-at-large about the important role that athletic trainers play in reducing risk and providing a safer approach to work, life and sport. The Share Your Story campaign features testimonials from professional athletes, sports medicine physicians, coaches and team owners related to important topics related to sports and sports safety.

The Role of Parents

Parents of youth athletes play a critical role in ensuring the health and safety of their child. The risk of injury is inherent in sports, so parents must be proactive and well informed to help keep their youth athlete safe. Professional athletes and coaches share their opinion on the role of parents in youth sports in addition to key information for parents to know before their child participates in sports. Learn more. 

ATs In Action

Help us share what ATs do on a daily basis by submitting your pictures to be featured on At Your Own Risk’s social channels as part of the #ATsinAction campaign. #ATsinAction authentically depicts ATs doing what they do best – providing exceptional health care to a diverse patient population in a variety of settings. Be a part of the story by contributing your images.