NATA Now | NATA

September 11, 2025 by Beth Sitzler

NATA Beat: Fall 2025 Advocacy Updates

Every day, NATA and the NATA Government Affairs Department are working on behalf of the athletic training profession. With staff members experienced in all aspects of the legislative process, the NATA Government Affairs Department is the sole department focused on advocacy for the profession. NATA’s goal is to ensure that all ATs can work to the fullest extent of their education and skill set. These bipartisan efforts consist of five key areas: state legislation, federal legislation, regulatory, reimbursement and NATAPAC.

April 17, 2014 by NATA Staff

NATA Commemorates JATO Partnership in Tokyo

President Jim Thornton recently traveled to Tokyo to commemorate a new affiliate partnership with NATA. Read on to find out more about his trip, what the partnerships means for NATA and what he loved most about Japanese culture.

Why did you go to Japan? Was it your first time?

April 16, 2014 by NATA Staff

Creative Idea for Inspiring Students

Ashley Reed, MS, ATC, an ATP faculty member at Kent State University, recently shared the way her program helps motivate and inspire students:

April 15, 2014 by NATA Staff

FAQ: Safe Sports School Award

By Judy Pulice, NATA Senior National Manager of State Legislative & Regulatory Affairs

Recent conversations with a number of NATA members indicate there may be confusion about the new Safe Sports School Award. Down here in Dallas at NATA Headquarters, we feel it’s important that members – especially those working in the secondary school setting – have the correct information about the award and understand its intent.

April 11, 2014 by NATA Staff

NATM 2014 Wrap Up and Winners

Now that the book has been closed on National Athletic Training Month 2014, we wanted to look back and express our appreciation to all the ATs who participated. The response via social media during the month was phenomenal, with the hashtag #NATM2014 being used over 19,000 times on Twitter. We also had an amazing number of entries for our NATM Social Media Contest with over 1,500 photos posted. All the ATs out there also stepped up when it came to rewarding some of their own. The poll we posted last week to choose the favorite NATM poster photo received thousands of votes.

April 10, 2014 by NATA Staff

Deadline Approaching for the Research Mentor Program

There’s still time to apply for the 2014 NATA Foundation Mentor Program! This unique initiative from the NATA Foundation pairs a small group of “young investigators” with a mentor to provide assistance, advice or collaborative efforts on projects, grant reviews, research, academic manuscripts and more. The program is also a great opportunity to connect with experienced ATs conducting research in the clinical or academic setting.

April 8, 2014 by NATA Staff

My Olympic Experience

By Benjamin Towne, MA, ATC

Two months ago, I was given the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream by serving as an athletic trainer for the USOC Medical Staff for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. A common question I hear is, “How did you get involved?” Like anything in life, there are multiple paths to get to the same destination, but I can certainly share mine.

April 4, 2014 by NATA Staff

Vote For Your Favorite NATM Poster Photo!

The response to our NATM Social Media Contest was outstanding 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 March 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. You can vote for two, so let us know which ones you think are the best. The poll will be available for just one week, so be sure to vote early and often.

April 3, 2014 by NATA Staff

AT Student Saves Assistant AT

April 1, 2014 by NATA Staff

April NATA News: From the Editor

When we were offered the chance to shadow athletic trainers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston for our April NATA News, we jumped at the chance. Our Managing Editor Jaimie Siegle worked diligently to set this trip up for months and months, and it suddenly came together in a whirlwind back in February. Special thanks to Joshua Yellen, EdD, ATC, LAT, and Bruce Nieschwitz, ATC, LAT, for navigating the strict NASA regulations to get us in the door that day.

March 31, 2014 by NATA Staff

Emphasizing Ethics in Education

My name is Jeremy Hawkins. I am the Athletic Training Program Director at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado. I have a passion for athletic training professional education and am excited to be a regular contributor to NATA Now.