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!