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.