Insight Into NATA’s Presidential Election Update
This August, the NATA Board of Directors approved a series of bylaw updates. This included an update to who is eligible to run for president of the association. The new bylaw states:
8.2 President.
(a) Nomination. If more than two (2) candidates choose to stand for election, the Presidential Nominating Committee shall (subject to qualifications contained in these bylaws) nominate two (2) candidates for President at a meeting to occur within one (1) year prior to the election of the President, which shall take place before the Annual Members’ Meeting at which the current President’s term ends. Each candidate must be a Certified Member or Certified-Retired Member. Candidates for the office of President must be a current or past NATA Committee or Council Chair who served under the current or immediate past-president or a current or past Director of NATA.
(b) Election. Elections shall be conducted in an orderly, efficient, equitable and secure manner. A ballot shall be sent to each Professional Member and Professional-Retired Member. An election shall not be held if there is only one candidate. The candidate receiving the largest number of votes shall take office as NATA’s President at the next Annual Members’ Meeting.
(c) Term of Office, Re-election. The term of office of the President shall be three (3) years. With the exception of a Vice President who advances to fill a partial term as President, the President may not serve more than one (1) term.
With the updated bylaw now in effect, you may be wondering what this means for NATA’s 2026 presidential election cycle, which will officially kick off this fall with a call for eligible candidates.
Below, NATA Now, with the assistance of NATA Presidential Election Oversight Task Force Chair Tim Weston, MEd, ATC, answers some questions about the updated bylaw and the 2026 presidential election cycle.
Who Can Now Run for NATA President?
Previously, according to the NATA Bylaws, to run for president, “each candidate must be a Certified Member, and must be a sitting director or immediate past director.”
Now, the bylaws state that a candidate must be a Certified Member or Certified-Retired Member. They must also be a current or past NATA director; or a current or past NATA committee or council chair who served under the current or immediate past president.
In addition to the updated bylaw, the NATA Presidential Election Policies and Procedures document was updated, further outlining eligibility requirements of the position. To be eligible, a candidate:
- Must meet the requirements of the NATA Volunteer Agreement
- Must have a minimum of 15 years of membership before declaring candidacy with at least five years of membership immediately prior to declaring candidacy.
- Must have a minimum of six total years of leadership investment before declaring candidacy, which consists of the following:
- Three years in a NATA leadership position, defined as any of the following:
- NATA Board of Director
- NATA committee or council chair
- Three years in a district, district association or state athletic training leadership position, defined as any of the following:
- Elected district, district association or state association officer
- Appointed district or district association-based only committee chair (position approved by the appropriate governing executive board)
- Appointed state association committee chair (position approved by the appropriate governing executive board)
- Three years in a NATA leadership position, defined as any of the following:
Why Did NATA Update Its Presidential Candidate Eligibility?
Prior to the 2020 NATA presidential election, the NATA Board of Directors and then President Tory Lindley, MA, ATC, formed the NATA Presidential Election Procedures Work Group, also chaired by Weston. Since then, this group – now a task force – has examined and evaluated the association’s election process each cycle to ensure a fair and equitable process.
“[After the 2023 election cycle,] the task force wanted to look at who was eligible to run for president, and how we could expand the eligibility requirements,” Weston said. “We looked at how we could have a diverse, equitable group of volunteer leaders who are highly qualified to be eligible to run for president, and not have it just be what it has been – a very select few individuals, i.e., the current and most recent board of directors.”
How Was the Bylaw Updated?
To ensure whatever recommended changes it presented to the NATA Board of Directors represented membership, the task force sought out member feedback. It surveyed volunteer leaders, including committee and council chairs and members, past and present board members and NATA’s past presidents, about expanding eligibility requirements.
“We did a pretty comprehensive survey to the volunteer leadership, and that gave us some really good guidance regarding how we could propose to the NATA Board of Directors expanding who is eligible to run for president,” Weston said.
Using that survey information, the task force created two possible bylaws updates – Option 1 required candidates to be a Certified Member or Certified-Retired Member, while Option 2 required candidates to be a Professional Member or Professional-Retired Member. These recommended updates would not only expand eligibility to all NATA district directors – past and current – but also those who have recent experience leading at the national level.
“Obviously, current and immediate past board directors were able to run, but we felt there were many past board directors who had a wealth of knowledge and service, but had termed out weren’t allowed to run,” Weston said. “We heard from a lot of board directors, ‘Hey, now that I'm at a different stage of my career, if I'd had the opportunity, I would have considered running for president.’
“Then, when we got to committee and council chairs, we felt that those individuals also should be considered to run as they too possessed a wealth of knowledge and service.”
The task force presented the two bylaws update options to the NATA Bylaws Committee and then the NATA Board of Directors. With the board’s approval, both bylaw update options move on to the next step of the process: being voted on by members.
Since January, during each district’s annual meeting, members voted on all proposed changes to the NATA Bylaws. In July, after all meetings were held, members had approved Option 1 and voted down Option 2.
All approved bylaw changes then went back to the NATA Board of Directors, which ratified the updates during its Aug. 25 meeting.
What Can Members Expect This Upcoming Election Cycle?
“Now, we’re going to start the election process and reach out to those individual volunteer leaders who are now eligible under the new bylaw,” Weston said. “They're going to be notified that they're eligible to run. We will send them some information regarding what the commitment level is, what that looks like and what the process is going to be. That way they can start thinking about if they want to run or not.”
The 2026 NATA presidential election cycle will then officially begin in October, when the NATA executive leadership and NATA Presidential Election Oversight Task Force will issue the official call for candidates.
At that time, all possible candidates will receive an email asking them to officially throw their hat into the proverbial ring by filling out an online application and proving they meet all eligibility requirements.
The number of candidates will then determine next steps. If one person runs for president, they will become the NATA president elect. If two people run, they will be the association’s candidates, and will begin campaigning at the start of 2026. If three or more people run, the NATA Presidential Nominating Committee will be called and all candidates will convene at the Joint Committee Meeting in January 2026, where the two final candidates will be determined.
“[The NATA Presidential Nominating Committee] was also updated,” Weston said. “Previously, that group was made up of current and immediate past directors. There, again, we wanted to be more inclusive with our volunteer leadership.”
The new committee will be comprised of the NATA president, current district directors, immediate past district directors and current council and committee chairs. Proxies will be appointed, if needed.
After the final two candidates have been determined, members will have the opportunity to learn more about them and their vision for NATA’s future throughout the spring and early summer.
“A major change this cycle is we’re going to launch voting during convention,” Weston said. “There’s going to be an opportunity for convention attendees to meet the candidates and, following that, voting will begin. A notification will also go out, and those who are unable to attend convention can vote online.”
Online voting will take place throughout July 2026, with the results announced in early August 2026. The president elect will then begin shadowing the president, with their inauguration taking place during the 78th NATA Clinical Symposia & AT Expo in June 2027 in New Orleans.
Where Can Members and Possible Candidates Learn More?
More information related to the 2026 NATA presidential election cycle – including an outline of the president’s anticipated commitment and all future election-related updates – can be found on the NATA Presidential Election 2026 webpage.
