NATA Now

A few weeks ago we started a new social media contest that accompanied the unveiling of our new convention website. It was built around the philosophy that there are many words that can be used to describe athletic trainers, but only one word that brings them all together, that word being convention. So we put the call out to tell us what word you think best describes ATs and post it using the hashtag #ATsAre with a photo or video.

By John Doherty, ATC, PT

A Southern Professional Hockey League game was suspended 39 minutes into the night after a player suffered a serious injury that resulted from an on-ice collision.
 

Although we are still working to educate the public about the value and contributions of athletic trainers, it’s always exciting to see the news media present stories that highlight the lives and accomplishments of ATs. Recently, we have come across several stories that have done just that. Since you might not have seen them already, we wanted to collect them here so you might have a chance to read them too. We often post articles we come across on our Twitter feed, in addition to important news and updates from NATA.

In partnership with the University of Connecticut's Korey Stringer Institute, MISSION Athletecare are attacking the issue of heat stroke head-on by donating $1 million in EnduraCool instant cooling products over the next three years to schools that implement and follow KSI's Exertional Heat Stroke Prevention Guidelines.

By John Doherty, ATC, PT

Baseball, basketball and football may be our three biggest spectator sports. Beyond filling stadiums and arenas, they have plenty of participants at the youth and high school levels.
 
Despite their popularity, these sports are far outdone by another in terms of participation. Furthermore, without this sport’s most fundamental aspect, the other three wouldn’t be possible at all; for where would those “big three” spectator sports be without running?
 

The Adolescent Female Athlete Triad
 
By Vineeta T. Swaroop, MD, Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
 

NATA initially launched its #ATsAre awareness campaign back in June, when convention attendees were asked to complete the phrase “Athletic trainers are ____” on a whiteboard. Recently, the #ATsAre campaign officially became a contest, and settled into its digital home at the NATA 2015 convention website. ATs and AT students are encouraged to submit their word (or words) as often as they’d like through Nov. 14.
 

By Jeremy Hawkins, PhD, ATC

In 1871, Philip P. Bliss, an American composer and conductor, published the following:
 
Brightly beams our Father’s mercy,
From His lighthouse evermore,
But to us He gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore.
 
Refrain:
Let the lower lights be burning!
Send a gleam across the wave!
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save.
 
Dark the night of sin has settled,
Loud the angry billows roar;

San Francisco 49ers rookie Marcus Lattimore has been making headlines lately, and still has yet to play one minute in his NFL career. As NFL commentators and critics debate whether he’ll be removed from the team’s non-football injury list to the active roster for the Rams game on Oct. 13, Lattimore’s nonprofit foundation is generating media buzz over a new concussion awareness initative benefitting South Carolina's young football athletes.