National Athletic Trainers’ Association to Welcome Three New Board Members at 63rd Annual Meeting

Tuesday, May 22, 2012
DALLAS, May 22, 2012 – During its 63rd Annual Meeting & Clinical Symposia, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) will formally welcome Katherine “Kathy” I. Dieringer, EdD, ATC, LAT; Mary Beth Horodyski, EdD, ATC, LAT, FNATA; and Julie Rochester, EdD, ATC, to its board of directors. NATA’s annual meeting will take place June 26-29 at the America’s Center in St. Louis. Dieringer succeeds NATA’s outgoing District Six Director Brian Conway; Horodyski will replace outgoing District Nine Director R.T. Floyd; and Rochester will succeed District Four Director Mark Gibson.

“This is an exciting time for women in our profession and we are delighted to welcome these three dynamic and distinguished colleagues to our board of directors,” said President-elect Jim Thornton, MS, ATC, PES, who will formally take office in June and replaces outgoing President Marjorie J. Albohm, MS, ATC. “Each of them has dedicated her time and efforts to the profession and their individual and combined vision will help set the course for the association’s growth in years to come.”

Kathy Dieringer
Dieringer has always been an entrepreneur, through service to the profession and her own career. She has served as president of the Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association, a member of NATA’s Women in Athletic Training Committee and chair of its Clinical and Emerging Practice Athletic Trainer’s Committee. She’s held numerous other positions at the national, state and local level. Having worked in the collegiate and sports medicine settings for much of her career, Dieringer established D&D Sports Med in 2003, a growing practice that now includes three clinics in the Denton, Texas area. She is the recipient of several honors including the NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer award in 2007. She was inducted into the SWATA Hall of Fame in 2007.

MaryBeth Horodyski
Horodyski joined the University of Florida in 1992 and has held numerous positions on the faculty, most recently as professor and director of research for the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation. She also holds joint appointments with the College of Public Health and Health Professions and College of Veterinary Medicine - Small Animal Sciences. She has worked in the high school, collegiate, military and industrial settings. Horodyski has served as medical coordinator at secondary school sporting events, and with the Florida Sunshine State Games and Florida Special Olympics. She is the former president of the Southeast Athletic Trainers’ Association and current vice president of external affairs on the NATA Research and Education Foundation. She will receive the Gail Weldon Award at this year’s NATA annual meeting.

Julie Rochester
As a tenured associate professor at Northern Michigan University, Rochester is deeply rooted in the collegiate setting. She serves in the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation and is also director of the Athletic Training Education Program. She is the NMU faculty athletic representative to the NCAA and chair of the NMU Athletic Council. Rochester holds other appointments with the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference and Central Collegiate Hockey Association, among others. She has served as secretary and president of the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers’ Association and as co-chair of the Michigan Athletic Trainers Society Professional Education Committee. Rochester is the recipient of NMU’s Excellence in Teaching Award and the GLATA Gold Pinnacle Award.

NATA is divided into 10 geographic districts. District Four, which Rochester will lead, covers Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin; District Six which will be spearheaded by Dieringer, includes Arkansas and Texas; and District Nine which will be championed by Horodyski includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee.