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.
Debuting with a Splash
Jeff Allen, MEd, ATC, associate athletic director for sports medicine at the University of Alabama, was one of three athletic training innovators featured in the November NATA News article, “The Innovators Among Us.” Inventing the SidelinER in 2015, Allen knows firsthand what it’s like to bring an idea from conception to production.
How Passion Can Create Change
René Revis Shingles, PhD, AT, ATC, provided the November NATA News Own Your Impact column. In it, she discusses her passion for cultural competency and how she has used this passion to improve the athletic training profession through research, volunteer work and coauthoring a textbook.
Rachael Oats Named Honorary Member
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.
PASS: Dreaming of a New AT Facility?
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?
National Youth Sport Specialization Awareness Week Kicks Off
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.
Youth Sport Specialization Recommendations
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 Takes Part in Health Professions Week
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.
ICSM Guidance on Interassociation Recommendations
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 Agenda Provides Unification
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.
Meet the Student Leadership Committee
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.