Since 1991, David Csillan has served as an athletic trainer at Ewing High School in New Jersey. During his nine year stint with the Athletic Trainers’ Society of New Jersey, he served as president. During that term, his state became the first and only state to award tenure to eligible secondary school athletic trainers. He was also instrumental in advancing the state’s Athletic Training Practice Act from registration to licensure. At the district level, he spearheaded the creation and implementation of the Eastern Athletic Trainers’ Association ’49 Club award, the highest honor an EATA member can receive. Csillan co-chaired the NATA Inter-Association Task Force on Preseason Heat Acclimatization Guidelines for Secondary School Athletics. This milestone marked the first time the NATA had gone beyond providing information for injury prevention. Csillan was an NATA District Two Representative on the Secondary Schools Committee, NATA liaison to the National Federation of State High Schools Association and NATA liaison to USA Football. He was elected District Two Secretary for two terms and served as vice-chair and chair of the NATA District Secretaries’/Treasurers’ Committee. But, most unique of all, Csillan was previously inducted into three hall of fames: New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (2004), Athletic Trainers’ Society of New Jersey (2008) and Ewing High School Athletics (2011); NATA Hall of Fame makes the fourth.
NATA Hall of Fame
Pat Aronson is currently a professor of athletic training at the University of Lynchburg. During her 31-year stint, she has served as head athletic trainer, clinical education coordinator and faculty athletic representative. She has dedicated her career to sharing information, publishing numerous studies in the Journal of Athletic Training. An avid volunteer, she spent extensive time working as the District Three Director and member of the NATA Board of Directors. She also spends time reviewing manuscripts for the Journal of Athletic Training and assisting students with research projects. In 2017, she became the founding chair of the NATA LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee. Celebrated for her extensive service to the profession, Aronson has amassed many awards and honors. She was inducted into the Canisius College Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and, in 1996, and she was awarded the K. Madison Smith award for Academic Excellence from CHRV College of Health Sciences for her work in the physical therapy assistant’s program. In 1998, NATA awarded her the Athletic Trainer Service award and, in 2004, she received the NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer. The Virginia Athletic Trainers’ Association inducted her into their Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Mid-Athletic Trainers’ Association did the same in 2018.
Jim Thornton, head athletic trainer at Clarion University for almost 30 years, has built his career and legacy upon service to the profession of athletic training. Thornton has held countless leadership positions at the state, district and national levels. In 1998, he was elected District II Secretary. During his tenure, he coordinated the historical archiving of Districts One and Two. He also initiated the EATA Student Delegation and facilitated the writing of the student delegation manual. Thornton was elected as District Two Director in 2005, NATA Vice President in 2009 and, in 2012, he was elected president of NATA. As president, he represented NATA in White House meetings that resulted in the National Security Council's “Stop the Bleed” campaign and also contributed to the creation of the NFL grant program that places ATs in secondary schools in under-privileged areas. Under his guidance and leadership, NATA introduced a new logo, reinstated the annual Joint Committee Meeting, announced the Japanese Athletic Trainers' Organization as an official affiliate member of NATA and initiated ATs Care, an international program that provides peer support for athletic trainers dealing with a crisis or critical incident.
As an educator, researcher and leader, René Revis Shingles' impact on the profession of the athletic training is immeasurable. A professor at Central Michigan University for decades, more than 650 students have graduated under her tutelage. Shingles co-authored the first book on cultural competence in the profession and is considered a national expert on diversity and inclusion in athletic training. Shingles has dedicated countless hours to NATA through her work with the Education Council, the Education Degree Task Force and the Ethnic Diversity Advisory Committee. She has also advanced the profession by serving in various roles with the Board of Certification and the NATA Research & Education Foundation. Through her work at CMU, she is credited with successfully coordinating the reaccreditation process multiple times with each receiving the maximum number of years for reaccreditation. For more than 20 years, Shingles has volunteered as medical staff for the Special Olympics Michigan State Summer Games. In 1996, she was selected by the United States Olympic Committee as an AT for the Olympic Games in Atlanta and marched in the opening ceremonies with Team USA.
With pride and dedication, Gary Reinholtz served as an athletic trainer for more than 30 years. In 1972, he graduated from Mankato State University, which was one of the first athletic training curriculums approved by the NATA Professional Education Committee. Along with three athletic training colleagues at the University of Washington, he co-authored the first programmed text used in athletic training curriculums. In 1976, Reinholtz became the head athletic trainer at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota until his retirement as Professor Emeritus in 2005. He provided injury prevention and care to athletes on 27 sport teams. In 1976, he developed an approved athletic training curriculum at Gustavus, educated countless students and prepared them to work alongside physicians, allied health professionals, coaches and administrators. Reinholtz has influenced the profession locally, regionally and nationally by serving in numerous appointed and elected positions with the Minnesota Athletic Trainers' Association, Great Lakes Athletic Trainers' Association and the National Athletic Trainers' Association. The MATA Legislative Committee, chaired by Reinholtz, was the driving force behind the Minnesota Athletic Trainers' Act being signed into law in 1993.
Marty Matney's storied career began in the 1970s when he became interested in sports medicine in high school. Since then, he has built a decades-long career that has spanned multiple job settings and blazed new trails for athletic training employment. Matney started in the clinical setting, and his work has contributed to the expansion of the athletic training profession into the military, performing arts, physician practice and occupational health settings. Matney established two rehabilitation clinics and spearheaded the expansion of the Boeing Industrial Athlete program. The program, which provides athletic training care for Boeing employees and helps prevent work-related injuries, grew from four ATs to more than 70 under Matney's leadership. An advocate for the profession, Matney is credited with the passing of the Washington State Athletic Trainers Act. Since 1984, he has served the athletic training profession at the local, state and national levels and was heavily involved with NATA's governmental affairs efforts. He is the current chair of the NATA Committee on Practice Advancement.
John Davis, known for his commitment to athletic training practice and education, has provided quality health care for student athletes at Montclair State University since 1984. He is credited with establishing the MSU athletic training education program in 2000 that has produced countless athletic trainers. Davis has devoted years of service to the profession. He was elected Secretary/Treasurer of the Eastern Athletic Trainers' Association in 1988. In 1992, he became the District Two secretary and helped to form the NATA District Secretaries'/Treasurers' Committee. He was elected President of the EATA in 2011. Celebrated for his leadership and service, he was inducted into the Athletic Trainers Society of New Jersey's Hall of Fame in 2006 and the MSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012. MSU also honored Davis in 2010 by dedicating its athletic training facility as the John Davis and Dr. M. Benjamin Burton Athletic Training and Sports Medicine Center. In 2018 he was inducted into the EATA ‘49 Club and also received the EATA Student Delegation Jeff Stone Service Award.
Nancy Burke began her career more than four decades ago as one of the first athletic trainers in the Fairfax County Public Schools System in Virginia. Burke and her colleagues were responsible for building and growing the district's athletic training program that now includes two ATs in every high school. She used her expertise to expand the profession to the public safety sector, beginning with the Fairfax County Police Department. She was the first athletic trainer hired by a law enforcement agency, and her program has become a model for similar programs across the country. Always a trailblazer, Burke became an athletic trainer when there were few women in the profession and was the first woman to join the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Trainers' Association. After the merger of U.S. Women's Lacrosse Association and Men's Lacrosse, she served as co-chair and chair of its Sports Science and Safety Committee for a decade. The committee is regarded as a medical model for other governing bodies in sports.
Kent Biggerstaff spent 36 years as a professional baseball athletic trainer for the New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers and the Pittsburgh Pirates and was selected for three National League All Star teams, as well as the MLB All-Star Tour in Japan in 1996. Biggerstaff also spent three years as the concussion coordinator for Minor League Baseball umpires and is credited with introducing concussion management to the MLB. A proven leader, Biggerstaff was president of the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers' Society for three terms and served 13 years on its executive board. His leadership was integral in building upon the relationship between PBATS and NATA. He was elected to the PBATS Hall of Fame in 2016. Biggerstaff was selected for the NFL ATC Spotter program and worked on the PGA and PGA Champions Tours as a conditioning coordinator for 13 years, giving him the distinction of working in three professional sports.
Michael O'Shea's career began as a student AT at The University of Texas. While serving in the United States Air Force, O'Shea worked as an athletic trainer at the Air Force Academy and was awarded the Noncommissioned Officer of the Year in 1971. Following his service in the Air Force, O'Shea worked in both the professional and collegiate settings and, since 1993, he has served the University of Houston as head athletic trainer. In 1981, O'Shea wrote a book called The History and Development of the NATA, the first book to cover the history of the association. Selflessly, he donated all proceeds from book sales to NATA. Celebrated by his peers, O'Shea has received numerous awards at the state, district and national levels. In 1999, he earned the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society Distinguished Alumni Athletic Trainer award. He received the NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer award in 2005, the University of Houston Alumni Chairs Award in 2017 and will be inducted into the Southwest Athletic Trainers' Association Hall of Fame in 2017.