NATA Now

Membership 2026; Axel Moncada, MA, LAT, ATC; Beyond with NATA

December 11, 2025 by Beth Sitzler

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.

April 17, 2015 by NATA Staff

NATM 2015 Wrap Up and Winners

Another edition of National Athletic Training Month is in the books and 2015 was an outstanding year. The event was recognized in venues, offices and on campuses across the country and even showed up multiple places on television, including Good Morning America, the Today Show and Wheel of Fortune. Thanks to all the ATs who participated.

April 16, 2015 by NATA Staff

Awareness of Student-Athlete Mental Health Growing For ATs

This month, HBO’s award-winning “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” is featuring a segment that focuses on “the growing mental health crisis of student-athletes.” Mental health issues among student-athletes is a worthy topic to be sure. However, this is no “growing” crisis. It is a longstanding one (remember Jimmy Piersall?) that has been too easily avoided by too many for too long.

April 13, 2015 by NATA Staff

Favorite #NATM2015 Poster Photo Goes To...

After a flurry of votes over the last few days, we have a winner for the NATM 2015 poster contest! Congratulations go out to Cumberland Valley Athletic Training (@CVeagles_AT) for receiving the most votes in the poll. As the winner of the contest, they will be awarded a $100 Amazon gift card and a $50 credit to the NATAGear merchandise store. You can see the top ten entries below but be sure to check back here this Friday when we reveal the winners of our #NATM2015 Social Media Contest.

April 13, 2015 by NATA Staff

Gatorade Sports Science Institute's Nutrition in Sport Series

The Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) has created the Nutrition in Sport series which combines practical advice with relevant supporting research by leading sports nutrition scientists and practitioners in the field to provide sport-specific expertise.

GSSI has appointed a group of experts, the American Football Task Force, to share research and recommendations pertaining to American football.

April 9, 2015 by NATA Staff

New Running Study in Journal of the American College of Cardiology

With the turn of the calendar page should come a turn — for the better — in the weather. Runners, I can promise you, are celebrating. They can get off the treadmill, get out of the health club and resume running outside. Could anything be healthier? Unfortunately that depends on how far and how hard one is running, or so says a study published last month in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).

April 7, 2015 by NATA Staff

Help Us Choose the #NATM2015 Poster Contest Winner!

The response to our NATM Social Media Contest was impressive once again this year. We are collecting all the photos right now and will be announcing the prize winners next week. But another option available was to post a photo of the NATM poster we included with the February NATA News. Because we had such great entries for this, we need your help to choose the winner. We have narrowed it down to a top 10 and they are posted below.

April 2, 2015 by NATA Staff

Collaborative Solutions for Safety in Sport

NATA and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine recently hosted “Collaborative Solutions for Safety in Sport,” a meeting designed to bring key stakeholders together to discuss sports safety in secondary schools across the country.

March 27, 2015 by NATA Staff

Only A Few Days Left For NATM 2015

The end of National Athletic Training Month is almost here. There are still a handful of days left to promote ATs and the profession, though, and we’re looking for a strong finish!

March 25, 2015 by NATA Staff

NFL Rule Change Momentous For Athletic Trainers

Yesterday, during the NFL's annual owners meetings several rules changes were announced by the Competition Committee. One of these was especially significant because it will affect the athletic trainers who act as independent injury spotters during games. The new rule gives them the ability to stop a game if a player appears disoriented.

This is an unprecedented granting of power from the league as it will be the first time a third party besides the referees can halt play in the event of an injury.

March 24, 2015 by NATA Staff

Students: Look for the “Flecks of Gold”

By Jeremy Hawkins, PhD, ATC, ATP Director, Colorado Mesa University