NATA Scholarship Winners

Congratulations to the following SWATA student member winners of NATA Scholarships:

• Emily Jones, Hardin-Simmons University
• Laura Medaris, Texas Wesleyan University
• Akihito Tajima, Texas State College

The scholarships will be formally presented, along with other student awards, during the Pinky Newell Scholarship and Leadership Breakfast at the NATA Annual Meeting in San Antonio. The event is scheduled for 8:15 to 10:00 AM on Saturday, June 20, in Salon E & F rooms (3rd floor) at the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel. You can buy tickets through the NATA registration site.

Nice work, students, and congratulations again!

AATA@HotSprings.fun

A couple of weekends ago, Brian Conway, Mitzi Laughlin, Mike Carroll, and all three SWATA 2nd V.P. candidates (Chris Hall, Rick Redden, and Cathy Supak), and I attended the Arkansas Athletic Trainers' Association Annual Meeting in Hot Springs. What a beautiful area and setting! The meeting room was bordered by bay windows looking over placid Lake Hamilton. Wow! The weather was perfect, the hospitality was (as usual) outstanding, and the meeting was successful.

We were shuttled back and forth on the one-hour drive to the airport by student officers of the AATA student association. I was given a ride by the current (Sarah) and incoming (Lindsey) student presidents, and I appreciated the opportunity to talk with these future athletic trainers. It's nice to know our profession is in such good hands!

The meeting was the largest in the history of the AATA. The educational sessions and speakers were impressive, and the business meeting was well-organized and productive--they (like SWATA) were revising their constitution and rules.

And if you've never been to Arkansas, you've never experienced true hospitality. The officers and members of the AATA will make you feel like a family member. I highly recommend you experience their meeting and camaraderie if you get a chance (next year's meeting is in Little Rock...it's already on my calendar!).

I would like to thank my friends in Arkansas for making me feel so comfortable and welcome. I am planning on attending the Davis Mountain Sports Medicine Clinic in June (if I can get a room!), then NATA in San Antonio the weekend after, so maybe I'll see you at one of those meetings (if so, mention this blog!). I'm also going to the American College of Sports Medicine meeting in Seattle at the end of May, so if you'll be there give me a shout.

I look forward to seeing you all in Arlington in July, where we will have our own excellent educational program and business meeting, and I wish you a speedy and safe end to your school year.

Thoughts and Prayers to the Dallas Cowboy family

I just wanted to post a short note regarding one of our SWATA members who was injured over the weekend. Severe storms moved across the Metroplex and the state over the weekend. If you haven't already heard one of the more significant storms moved through Irving/Las Colinas area. This particular storm caused the failure of the structure of the Dallas Cowboys indoor practice facility. The Cowboys were having a rookie workout at the time of the collapse. No one was killed because of this building collapse but several Cowboys staffers suffered various degrees of injury. The most significant injury was suffered by a Cowboys scout who will be paralyzed from the waist down. One person who sustained one of the more serious injuries is Cowboys Assistant Athletic Trainer and SWATA member Greg Gaither. According to news reports Greg had surgery for a fractured leg. Please send your thoughts and prayers to Greg Gaither, the Dallas Cowboys athletic training staff, and the entire Dallas Cowboys family. We will update this post as more information becomes available.