Bringing Athletic Training to ‘Today’

If you’re watching the “Today” show early in the morning March 6, pay attention as the camera scans the plaza – you might just see a familiar face or two.

This March, athletic trainers from New York and the surrounding area are once again making their annual trek to the Today Plaza in honor of National Athletic Training Month, a tradition that began in 2013.

“It was started by Lauren Stephenson, [MA, ATC,] who is an athletic trainer in New York,” said NATA Hall of Fame member David Csillan, MS, LAT, ATC, who has attended every trek to the “Today” show since its inception. “She was the originator and the one who got everybody together. At that time, Michael Goldenberg, [MS, ATC, CES,] was the District Two director, and I was the District Two secretary, so we helped her out with the promotions and getting the word out to all the District Two members.”

This year, Csillan is one of the three “prongs” coordinating the event. While he is handling social media, Arturo Flores, MS, LAT, ATC, is handling outreach to local athletic training education programs and New York State Athletic Trainers’ Association Region 1 NYC Rep. Erica Marcano, MS, ATC, CSCS, is handling the event’s logistics. 

Connecting to the Next Generation

Flores has also been involved since that first event in 2013. At that time, he was an athletic trainer with Stony Brook University and made the trek into Manhattan with 20 athletic training students. Marcano, on the other hand, experienced her first “Today” show last year after taking over the Region 1 NYC representative role.

“I knew people in my state who went, but I had never been involved with it before the first time that I had to put it together,” she said. “So, it was a lot of learning on the fly for me. … [This year,] we’ve done more outreach to programs and state leaders because we want to have a big presence. One of the best things for people who are sitting at home and watching the ‘Today’ show is seeing their athletic training colleagues. But for those people who are getting up at 2:30 a.m. [like David, who is coming in from New Jersey] and standing out in the cold in the middle of March, how can we make sure they’re getting a return on their investment?” 

One of the biggest returns on investment, Flores said, is the networking and community aspect of the event, especially for athletic training students. 

“This is an opportunity to meet and hear from other athletic trainers who are outside of their program, outside of their preceptors, outside of the people who they have contact with on a weekly basis,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to meet someone and exchange contact information. There have been plenty of students who have reached out to me after [meeting at the ‘Today’ show]. They’re now my colleagues, and I can reach out to them to be a guest speaker for my sports medicine class, or I can go into their world and be a guest lecturer for them.”

As the former District Two secretary and NATA District Secretaries/Treasurers Committee chair, Csillan said he’s had several opportunities to speak to students and early professionals. Often, he said, they see NATA and leadership as “the great and powerful Oz” – all-powerful and unapproachable.

“They think, ‘Anyone working in the national office, wearing a green jacket or serving as a district officer, we can't approach them, we can't speak to them,’” Csillan said. “I try to tell them, ‘We're one of you, and you're one of us.’ So, when we go to the ‘Today’ show, and we all have hoodies on, we all have sweatshirts on, and we're all promoting the profession on the Today Show Plaza, they see us in a different light. They see us as one of them, and we see them as one of us.”

Seeing the Impact

Before experiencing her first “Today” show trek, Marcano said she didn’t fully understand the impact of the event. 

“That first year … they panned the crowd, and all of a sudden, I was getting all of these messages from athletic trainers I knew around the country,” she said. “They saw us on TV.”

She then thought back to her time waiting in line, further understanding the ripple effect of the event.

“I was standing in line for an hour, and the people standing behind me were visiting New York from the Midwest,” she said. “They all were parents to high school athletes, and they were like, ‘Oh my gosh, you're an athletic trainer?’ We ended up talking the whole time.

“So, whether it’s talking to the people next to you in line or it’s an athletic trainer in Texas seeing us and being inspired to say, ‘Hey, I can go to my local news studio and do this,’ being there can impact those who are there as well as those who are at home.” 

Csillan has seen firsthand the impact of their repeat visits, in particular on the show’s TV hosts. During that inaugural 2013 trek, he talked to one of the show’s hosts off-air and asked if he knew who athletic trainers are. 

“He said, ‘Yes, I do; you’re the ones in the gym who show us how to lift weights,’” Csillan said. “I said, ‘No, that’s not what we do,’ and we went into a big discussion about what athletic trainers do. 

“Fast forward to two years ago. A different host said to us, ‘Oh, the athletic trainers are here – it’s National Athletic Training Month!’ And I said, ‘You don’t even know what we do.’ The host said, ‘I do know what you do. A couple years ago, I hurt my knee, and you’re the people who looked at my knee, evaluated it and told me what to do to fix it.’ So, we did make a difference.” 

For more than decade, athletic trainers in New York and the surrounding area – including David Csillan, MS, LAT, ATC, and his sign – have promoted National Athletic Training Month on the Today Plaza. This year, the annual AT trek to the “Today” show is March 6.

Want To Attend?

The trio said all ATs are welcome to join them March 6 on the Today Plaza as they promote the profession. Marcano created a registration form to help them keep track of attendees. 

For those planning to attend, Marcano said they should arrive at the plaza no later than 6 a.m. EST.

“That's when they start vetting people at security,” she said. “If you get there after 6 a.m., the line is so long, you might not get onto the plaza by 7 a.m. [when filming starts].”

Attendees are encouraged to wear any AT gear they own as well as bring a sign celebrating the profession and NATM. The trio said they will also have extra signs for anyone who would like one.

After the “Today” show wraps filming at 9 a.m. EST, the group will head to breakfast where the networking and celebration of NATM will continue. 

Arturo said ATs can also follow along with the day’s festivities through his Instagram account. 

For those who watch the March 6 “Today” show, if you need help spotting your fellow ATs, look for Csillan’s NATM sign. You might even recognize it – he’s brought it with him every year.

“Each year, I’ve had friends, family, colleagues from all over the country say, ‘Hey, we saw your sign!’ And I think that's the coolest thing,” he said. “There are millions of people who have seen my NATA sign on the ‘Today’ show.”