NATA Now

The NATA Board of Directors is pleased to announce their unanimous decision to award Associate Executive Director Rachael Oats, CAE, as an honorary member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. Honorary membership in NATA is awarded to individuals who have shown profound interest in and have made significant contributions to the profession of athletic training. These persons display a dedication to advancing, promoting and championing the efforts of the association and its members.

By Shelly Jones, ATC, Aloha High School Beaverton, Oregon

“Hey Shelly, do you have any thoughts for your new athletic training room?”

Boy, did I ever! After 20-plus years, I had a wish list a mile long. When your athletic director and principal come to you with that super exciting question, how do you decide what’s most important? How do you convince the decision-makers it’s a worthwhile need?

To help reduce the risk of injury related to sport specialization and to keep athletes safe, healthy and in the game, NATA has named the third full week of October National Youth Sport Specialization Awareness Week.

Throughout the week of Oct. 21-25, NATA will share information with the public about youth sport specialization and the latest research found in the October Journal of Athletic Training, which is dedicated to the topic.

Youth sport specialization is a hot topic for the athletic training profession. Not only is the October Journal of Athletic Training a special thematic issue dedicated to the topic, NATA has released an official statement with health-focused recommendations to reduce the risk of injury due to youth sport specialization.

NATA will lend its voice to the 2019 Health Professions Week (HPW), Nov. 16-21. As the biggest career event for health professions, HPW brings together various health profession organizations to promote health care careers to high school students, college students, career changers, parents, advisors and counselors. HPW is a six-day, one-stop shop of events to explore more than 20 career options.

On Sept. 23, the NATA Board of Directors approved the NATA Intercollegiate Council for Sports Medicine (ICSM) document to support adoption and compliance to new Recommendations released by NCAA.

Research is at the center of the October NATA News. In addition to detailing some of the latest AT-led research taking place and providing insight from researchers in the profession, the October issue takes a closer look at the Athletic Training Research Agenda.

Hello! My name is Madelyne “Midge” Peterson, and I’m currently serving as the chair of the Student Leadership Committee (SLC). I am a student in the second year of my master’s degree in athletic training at the University of Montana. This is my third year serving on the committee. Last year I represented District Ten as chair-elect, and the year before I shadowed the District Ten representative.

Photo caption: ATs Care CISM Team Coordinator Woody Goffinett, MBA, ATC, EMT-T, gets a hug from New Jersey ATs Care CISM team member Christina Emrich, MS, LAT, ATC, during a talk by ATs Care Co-Chair Lovie Tabron, MS, ATC, CCISM, at the ATs Care CISM Team refresher course at NATA 2019 in Las Vegas.

By Jessica Good

Maybe you’re going through a divorce, or you’re having a hard time as a single parent.

UPDATE: NATA is conducting a maintenance outage for nata.org, pdc.nata.org and jobs.nata.org from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. CDT Sept 19. Gather will also undergo a maintenance outage Sept. 19-23.

By Kim Diggs