Arkansas Update

During our summer meeting in Arlington we talked with many members that were not aware of all of the great things that go in SWATA. So in a continuing effort to keep our members informed about what goes on with the committees and state associations from time to time in this blog we will be highlighting SWATA committees and also the state associations of Arkansas and Texas. Today we will be highlighting the Arkansas Athletic Trainers' Association.

The Arkansas Athletic Trainers’ Association or AATA is still in the process of getting the Legislative task force put together which will study the impact as well as benefits of athletic trainers in the secondary school setting. This task force will be comprised of three members of the General Assembly appointed by the Chair of the Senate Committee on Education, three members of the General Assembly appointed by the Chair of the Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor; three members of the General Assembly appointed by the Chair of the House Committee on Education; and three members of the General Assembly appointed by the Chair of the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor. There are also nonvoting members who include a single member from each of the following departments or associations: the Department of Workforce Education, the Department of Education, the Department of Higher Education, the Arkansas Athletic Trainers Association, the Arkansas School Nurses Association, the Arkansas Activities Association, the Arkansas Rural Education Association, the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators.

The AATA is also proud to have won the Dan Campbell Legislative Award which was presented at the NATA Annual Meeting in San Antonio last summer and would like to thank Tim Atkinson for his hard work on this.

Also the AATA has their Hall of Fame Display up in the Arkansas Sport and Hall of Fame at Verizon Arena in Little Rock. Finally to wind up the year the AATA will be having the Mid-Winter Board Meeting on December 12.

For more information on athletic training in the state of Arkansas and the Arkansas Athletic Trainers’ Association please visit http://www.swata.org/aata/index.htm

A New Direction

One of the things that really energizes and encourages me as a SWATA Executive Board member is working with the students within our association. I get to see on a first hand basis how bright our future is and the passion each of these student athletic trainers has for the profession. Earlier in the year I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit with the District 4 Student Senate – I flew to Ft. Wayne, Indiana and spent a few days with them at their annual symposium. The purpose of my trip was to observe how they operated and how they fit in with the GLATA Executive Board. Based on the observations from this trip as well as a lot of brainstorming session with SWATA leadership, the idea was hatched to take our student program within SWATA in a different direction.

The SWATA Student Leadership and Development Committee, formerly the SWATA ATSA, was restructured this summer to encompass the Student Research and Education Committee, the Competency Workshop Committee and the newly created Student Senate. The SWATA Student Senate will closely mirror other districts within the NATA that have similar organizations. A group of 21 students were asked to be on the Student Senate Task Force and were able to meet in San Antonio and Arlington this past summer. From those meetings, the Student Senate by-laws, policies and procedures and senator application were developed – each of these can now be found at http://www.swata.org/. Currently the Task force is working on student programming and hands-on workshops for the 2010 SWATA Annual Meeting. Programming will include multiple days for students as well as hands on workshops for varying levels of student athletic trainers. Applications and requirements to serve on the SWATA Student Senate will be accepted in December and the inaugural Senate will convene in Arlington in July 2010.

I cannot stress how much I appreciate the hard work of some of the individuals who have tirelessly worked to bring this idea to life within the past year – they were given a large task to undertake in April and had all of it completed by the end of July. The SWATA Student Senate task force was chaired by Kelley Menefee, the District VI Representative to the National Athletic Training Students’ Committee. The chair of the SWATA Student Senate is Kelley Henderson, Clinical Coordinator for the TCU Horned Frogs Athletic Training Education Program. We truly appreciate the “two Kelleys” and all of the hours and hard work they have put into this task.

If you do not believe me in how exciting the future is for our profession, I invite you to come and visit one of the Task Force meetings or a Student Senate meeting next summer. There are so many opportunities in our association for our students to step up and be leaders – I encourage you to look at your student staff and identify someone who might be a good fit for the Student Senate. Go to the website and submit their application – they are the future leaders of SWATA and NATA.

Next week I am going to spotlight another great opportunity our students have to utilize within District 6 – the SWATA Competency Workshop. Until then, I hope you have a wonderful weekend and you are enjoying a bit of the cooler weather.

As always, never hesitate to let us know if your Executive Board can do anything for you.

DT
SWATA Vice President

NATA & APTA reach settlement

NATA and the American Physical Therapy Association have agreed on terms that will settle the federal court antitrust lawsuit NATA initiated in 2008. NATA President Marje Albohm, MS, ATC, says the successful outcome is tremendously positive for the profession. "The settlement will allow us to continue to advance the profession while ensuring patient safety," she said. "This success means that we can put the Fair Practice Lawsuit behind us, knowing we have made great strides through it." The settlement centers on a Joint Statement on Cooperation, a public declaration that will be posted on NATA and APTA Web sites, said NATA counsel Paul Genender of K&L Gates. Full text of the Joint Statement will be released soon, but highlights include: - The APTA acknowledges that athletic trainers are health care professionals who are authorized to provide interventions within their scope of practice and that the scopes of practice of both professions overlap to some extent; - The APTA agrees that PTs are not the exclusive providers of manual therapy and that ATs are qualified to perform some forms of manual therapy; - The APTA acknowledges that ATs are required, per their academic education, to be competent in some forms of manual therapy. Counsel for NATA and APTA have notified the Court that the case has been settled, and final documents and details will be posted as they become available

What's Driving You?

Well, it is that time of year once again. The time of the year where there are not enough hours in the day, you drag yourself out of the house before the sun comes up in the morning and you drag yourself home after the sun has gone down in the evenings. Let’s not even get talk about the hours you put in on game days!! What gets you through the day? What makes you go that extra mile when something goes across your desk and your first thought is “that’s not my job – why would I waste my time on that?” What makes this profession so important to you that you give up time with your families, your schedule is dictated by coaches last minute practices and games and you are a walking zombie on the weekends?


That question is asked a lot by athletic trainers this time of year – I hope that if that question does come across your mind, your number one answer is that you truly care for the profession of athletic training and you really enjoy taking care of the kids. I will be honest with you – I have that thought a few times in any given school year. I look at some of the athletic trainers that I consider mentors and wonder how in the world they can possibly still be doing this after 20+ years at the same school. Then I realize one thing : they truly care for the kids they are working with. They have past athletes come in and introduce them to their spouses and children because they had such an impact on their lives when they were in high school. They tear up when they hear about accomplishments of former athletes or student athletic trainers because that is truly why they go to work each day – to make an impact on a young person’s life and to be blessed by the results of their hard work.


So what drives you? What gets you out of bed in the morning? When the days get long and the “stuff” keeps piling up on your desk, just remember that you are part of a unique profession. Our jobs do not rest on the win and loss columns. Our jobs do not involve whistles and watching film. We may be one of the only people on a campus that an athlete trusts when something is wrong with them. We may be one of the only people in that athletes life that they can share their problems with. Cherish the profession you have chosen and try to positively impact as many people as you can each and every day you walk into that door, no matter what setting you are in.

I hope each of you has a wonderful week -
DT

NATA Presidential Election

I wanted to take a few minutes to remind you that the polls are open for the NATA Presidential Election. Both candidates are very worthy and I encourage you to go and read their bios at www.nata.org. The candidates are current NATA President Marje Albohm and former NATA National Director for District Two Joe Iezzi. Both candidates were at our SWATA Annual Meeting in Arlington last July as well.

Regardless of which candidate you feel should lead our national association I strongly encourage you vote prior to the polls closing on September 30. The NATA has made it incredibly easy to vote now with e-ballots. It literally takes less than a minute to vote. For more information on the candidates or if you didn't get your electronic ballot visit www.nata.org