NATA Hit the Hill Day, iLead, and Airplane Fires

Last weekend was the annual NATA Hit the Hill day in Washington DC. Combine that with several NATA committee meetings, the athletic trainer education conference, and the new program iLead for promising young students and there was a great deal of activity in and around our nation’s capitol that involved athletic training. This year at Hill Day we had the largest attendance since its inception.

First let me tell you my saga getting there. It’s funny now. It wasn’t then. If you’ve ever flown out of DFW airport you know that departure times and your gate assignment is really only an estimate and they are never really set until you get on the plane. My first flight was cancelled so I got put onto another flight that was to leave about nine hours later. As I tried to go stand by on an earlier flight I got bumped to a different flight going to a different airport. After boarding that plane we were quickly off loaded because the oven in first class caught on fire. If you’ve ever been on a plane and the flight attendant says the word “FIRE” over the intercom in reference to where you are currently sitting it’s kind of unsettling. We then proceed to sit in the terminal for about two hours until the airline locates a plane which was less incendiary in nature. The flight was uneventful and I get to my new airport which is an hour from the NATA hotel. As I go to the Super Shuttle desk the cashier tells me that it’s “your lucky day” because my shuttle would be leaving immediately. If he only knew. Eventually I arrive at the hotel and proceed directly to have a high level meeting with SWATA President Dan O’Connor in the public gathering establishment located within the confines of the hotel.

On Sunday I was privileged enough to help with the execution of the iLead conference. I led a roundtable discussion on the secondary school setting in the morning and did speed interviewing in the afternoon. District Six was well represented during this time. TSATA Board Chair Cathy Supak, National Director Brian Conway, former National Director Pete Carlon, and CEPAT member Terry DeWitt were just a few of the participants in the conference from our great district and they all represented you all very professionally. There were many students from Arkansas and Texas at this conference and I was very impressed with their knowledge of the profession and also their passion for the association. The future is very bright for all of us.

Monday was game day so to speak. We loaded up the buses and took off for Capital Hill. There were around 40 athletic trainers from SWATA in attendance. The SWATA Executive Board was represented by National Director Brian Conway, SWATA President Dan O’Connor, and myself. We all met with the offices of our representatives and our Senators. I felt very positive about my meeting in particular. In each meeting the athletic trainer asked that the elected official do three things. They were asked to co-sponsor the Athletic Trainers Equal Access to Medicare (ATEAM) Act or HR 1137. We also asked that they sign on with the Congressional Fitness Caucus, and finally we asked if they would read a statement into the official record regarding the profession of athletic training. I ask that if you were unable to attend that you please contact your representative to ask for the same three things that we did in person. Please go to http://www.nata.org/ and click on the “Alert Center” in the upper right part of the page.

After a long couple of days I loaded up at Reagan National Airport and headed home. No cancellations, no gate changes, and most importantly NO FIRES! I feel lucky to have been able to attend this important day in the year of the association and the profession. I am honored to be able to represent all SWATA members in this quest.

Productive Midwinter Meeting

Greetings Fellow SWATA Members,

The Board met in Lubbock over SuperBowl weekend and accomplished quite a bit.

We had a reception for the local athletic trainers in the Lubbock area, and about 35 people attended. A very special thanks to Buzz Chisum for helping organize the event, and to Grant Stovall and Lubbock Sports Medicine for sponsoring the reception. I very much enjoyed meeting Members from west Texas that I didn't know. Camaraderie is one of the best things about our profession.

Of course, we also did some work. We met with the Convention Committee about this summer's Annual Meeting in Arlington, Texas, as well as future meetings. Program Chair Tina Bonci has assembled an outstanding program consisting of a number of symposia with related talks. Make plans to register and attend--you won't regret it!!

We set the registration fee to the same amount as last year, $80 for Members who register ahead of the meeting. Watch swata.org for more info, coming very soon.

We voted to have the Annual Meeting at the Intercontinental Hotel in Addison (Dallas) in 2012; more details on that in the future. One meeting at a time!

The same weekend the Athletic Training Students' Association committee hosted an educational workshop for college juniors and seniors in Texas. They had 53 students from Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Lousiana attend. The highlights of the workshop were a keynote lecture by NATA President Marge Albohm and a cadaver lab.

Before the SWATA meeting, I attended the Greater Houston Athletic Trainers' Society student workshop in Katy, Texas. I attended part of the TSATA Board meeting in Austin the weekend after the SWATA Board meeting. Myself and several of your Board officers also went to the Texas Capital for the TSATA Hit the Hill Day the following Monday. We're off again this weekend to Washington D.C. to speak with our national legislators. I have several more trips to athletic training meetings planned between now and Arlington in July, including the NATA Annual Meeting in San Antonio, where SWATA is hosting the golf tournament. If you see me on one of my road trips, please make sure and say "hello".

As you can see, the business of SWATA never stops, as Vice President Mike Carroll pointed out in a blog posting last week. We are working throughout the year to improve your Association and our profession.

Stay safe, and I hope to see you all soon!

Be SWATA

When I make a blog post it’s typically a long one and while these posts contain what I feel are important information I think that some people may quit reading just because of the sheer length. Since one of my 2009 resolutions was to try and be a better communicator I’ll try and make this one a little shorter and more to the point.

This morning at the First Baptist Church of Stephenville our minister talked about how to "Be the church". He said that while it’s important that for the overall church to have programs aimed at the various groups and needs that it’s more important for the individual church member to represent the church and their faith in their everyday life using what they gather from their church experiences. That got me to thinking and the more that I thought the more I came to the realization that we should all look at SWATA in a similar fashion. It is important for your elected and appointed leadership of SWATA to do what they feel is important for not only the long term stability of the association and the profession and also to give the member some value for their membership dues. That being said it is just as important for the hard working general membership of SWATA to represent themselves and their profession in everyday life. While the Executive Board helps to guide policy and projects to benefit the association and the profession what each member should do where they live and with their employer and community are just as important.

Examples of what the general member can do to insure the long term growth and improvement of the profession and SWATA would be to ask your employer to recognize National Athletic Training Month. Members that are knowledgeable about the candidates that are running for 2nd Vice President this year will be able to make the most educated decision when then vote in the upcoming election. And in the upcoming weeks I also ask that each SWATA member take a few minutes to read the proposed new constitution that will be voted on at the business meeting at the annual convention.

It’s important to remember that SWATA is more than just a four day convention every July. Don’t just go to SWATA. Be SWATA.