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The first-ever Youth Sports Safety Ambassador Awards were presented during today's Youth Sports Safety Summit in Dallas. The Youth Sports Safety Ambassador award recognizes an individual or entity that has made a significant contribution to advancing athlete safety based on one of two criteria:

• By providing exemplary youth sports safety protocols and care that sets a precedent and/or model that others can follow.
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It’s almost March, and we have many fun activities planned for National Athletic Training Month. The following are a few of the contests and initiatives we’ll be offering in March. We hope you’ll join the fun and help us promote the profession!
 
#NATM2015 Social Media Contest

Athletic trainers representing 24 states joined us in Washington, DC, today for our biggest advocacy event of the year, Capitol Hill Day. Attendees conducted 192 meetings with legislators in support of the three pieces of legislation introduced last week:
 

• H.R. 829 / S. 436: SAFE PLAY (Supporting Athletes, Families and Educators to Protect the Lives of Athletic Youth) Act
• H.R. 921: Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act
• H.Res. 112 / S. Res. 83: Secondary School Student Athletes’ Bill of Rights

The preliminary program for the 2015 World Congress of the World Federation of Athletic Training and Therapy (WFATT) has recently been announced. Saint Louis University will host the WFATT World Congress as experts from all over the world converge to discuss this year's theme: Overuse Injury in Sport: An Interprofessional Approach.
 

More than 185 leaders in the athletic training profession recently gathered in Dallas for NATA’s 2015 Joint Committee Meeting, an exciting weekend of professional collaboration. NATA has formed volunteer committees who lead the charge in certain topic areas and job settings, and those groups gathered together to compare notes and see how they could join forces to get even more accomplished in 2015 and beyond.

Part of the programming including the following presentations from NATA staff directors. Click through to read about each topic!

 

One of NATA’s primary objectives is to provide top-notch professional development opportunities for our members. Anita James, NATA’s Director of Knowledge Initiatives, oversees this department, and her team works in collaboration with several member committees to address issues related to AT education. Anita gave an overview of the group’s current efforts and upcoming plans for 2015 to attendees at NATA’s recent Joint Committee Meeting, and we have summarized her presentation below.
 
Supporting Education from A to Z

Our legislative team was very busy last week! NATA supported the introduction of three separate bills: the SAFE PLAY Act, the Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act and the Secondary School Student Athletes’ Bill of Rights.
 

H.R. 829 / S. 436: SAFE PLAY (Supporting Athletes, Families and Educators to Protect the Lives of Athletic Youth) Act

Introduced Feb. 10, 2015 in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, and in the House by Rep. Lois Capps, CA-24, and Rep. Bill Pascrell, NJ-09

Tamesha Kennerson Logan, NATA’s Director of Marketing & Public Relations, gave a presentation to the attendees at the NATA Joint Committee Meeting in January 2015 that outlined several strategic initiatives in the national Marketing & Communications (MARCOMM) Plan for 2015. Two of the most exciting projects include the national website redesign and targeted communications plan.   
 

Website Redesign

NATA is excited to announce the introduction of the Supporting Athletes, Families and Educators to Protect the Lives of Athletic Youth (SAFE PLAY) Act in the Senate and House on Feb. 10, 2015. Introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and in the U.S. House by Rep. Lois Capps (CA-24) and Rep. Bill Pascrell (NJ-09), SAFE PLAY also recommends a multidisciplinary approach to research and federal support to ensure student athletes’ safety in schools.