NATA Now

August 12, 2025 by Beth Sitzler
Advocacy
Events
Membership

NATAPAC Keynote Highlights Impactful Leadership

In the Chuck Kimmel Memorial NATAPAC Luncheon keynote address, Mark Coberley, MS LAT, ATC, NATA Hall of Fame member and past District Five director, offered reflections on leadership, advocacy and the power of consistent, intentional action. 

Speaking to a room of emerging and established leaders, he delivered a compelling message built not on personal accolades, but on decades of observation and lived experience.

July 21, 2015 by NATA Staff

Heat Illness Handout

As temperatures around the country continue to rise – reaching the triple digits in some areas – it's important to remind parents, coaches and student athletes of the dangers of heat-related illnesses. There are several types of heat illness, but athletes are specifically at risk of exertional heat stroke, which is caused by intense exercise in the heat.

July 16, 2015 by NATA Staff

NFL Gameday Advocacy

NATA has partnered with USA Today Health and Human Services in a marketing effort to promote athletic trainers to NFL game attendees. This NATA advocacy ad will be featured in the gameday programs of the San Francisco 49ers, San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos and the New York Giants during the 2015-2016 season. Our message will focus on “Who is taking care of your kids?” and prompt readers to visit our public website scheduled to launch this fall.

July 9, 2015 by NATA Staff

Expansion of Athletic Trainer Outreach Program Announced

By John Doherty, ATC, PT

Four weeks from today, Indiana high school athletes will be in day two of official preseason fall practices. Meanwhile in Illinois, summer vacation will only have eight days left.   Of course, a coach or coaches will be on the field or in the gymnasium with your son or daughter but will an athletic trainer (ATC)?  
July 2, 2015 by NATA Staff

AT Spotlight: Elicia Leal

Having survived an aneurysm and stroke in July 2014, McKinney North High School athletic trainer Elicia Leal, MEd, ATC, LAT, has progressed leaps and bounds during her recovery. Throughout her journey, which  included emergency surgery and extensive rehabilitation, Leal has remained positive, finding strength and support in her friends and loved ones.

Her road to recovery is detailed in the July NATA News, but we asked a few more questions to help you get better acquainted of this month’s cover star.
 
July 1, 2015 by NATA Staff

Update to Appropriate Care of the Spine Injured Athlete

By John Doherty, ATC, PT

There are roughly 33 incidents of non-fatal spinal cord injury (SCI) nationally each day. That translates to 12,000 cases per year. Most receive barely a mention in the local press. However, nearly all lead to some type of disability and many are entirely catastrophic, leaving victims with permanent paralysis.

June 22, 2015 by NATA Staff

My First Convention Q&A: Eddie Lane

With an athletic training career spanning from 1949-93, Edwin Lane, AT Ret, has had many memorable experiences in the relatively young field, including being one of the 243 founding charter members of the NATA – and one of five still living.

Graduating from high school at 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 112 pounds, Lane said there wasn’t a place for someone his size on the field, however, there was one with athletic training. He left Toledo, Ohio, to attend Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, as a student athletic trainer.

June 22, 2015 by NATA Staff

My First Convention Q&A: Bobby Barton

This year’s Eve Becker Doyle Leadership Award recipient, Robert “Bobby” Barton, ATC, said he became an athletic trainer through osmosis. Growing up in Texas, an athletic trainer could be found in just about every high school, so it wasn’t a surprise when he “fell into” the profession his freshman year of college at the University of Kentucky.

“I obviously really liked it, and have been in it for 47 years,” he said.

June 12, 2015 by NATA Staff

NATA Participates in White House Roundtable

On April 29, 2015, NATA President Jim Thornton, MA, ATC, CES, and NATA Hall of Famer Ron Courson, ATC, PT, NREMT-I, CSCS, traveled to Washington, D.C. after being invited to participate in a White House Roundtable. The goal of the forum was to build national resilience by providing information and tools the general public can use to save lives.