Regional Association Spotlight : GHATS

The Greater Houston Athletic Trainers’ Society was established in 1988 with the intention of improving the communication, continuing education, and organization of the greater Houston Athletic Training community, and to the furtherance, promotion, improvement and enhancement of the Athletic Training profession. Year in and year out GHATS has strived to serve the athletic trainers in the Houston area, culminating in one of the largest student athletic trainer workshops in the nation.

The GHATS Student Athletic Training Workshop was held at Manvel High School on January 9th. Over 950 student athletic trainers attended, along with their supervising athletic trainers, college level athletic training students, various colleges and vendors from around the state. The high school students (and some of the professionals) went to various lectures and labs ranging from a basic beginner’s taping and splinting lab to an advanced kinesiotaping lecture and lab. The GHATS Board would like to thank everyone who participated in this year’s workshop. They would also like to thank Mark and Monica at Manvel High School for doing a wonderful job coordinating all the events and providing a wide range of current topics for the student athletic trainers in attendance.

At the 2009 Student Athletic Trainer Workshop at Cinco Ranch High School, GHATS voted to expand their membership to include college athletic training students. Carolee John of Houston Baptist University (HBU) offered to helm the College Student base. The College Student membership dues are $5.00 for the year. The benefits include accessing the newsletter, educational opportunities throughout the year as well as networking opportunities. If you are interested in joining, please contact Carolee John at cjohn@hbu.edu.

Each year GHATS presents three scholarships for use by a graduating high school student athletic trainer to further their college education, regardless of major. Information and details can be found on the GHATS website. All nominations must be postmarked by April 17, 2010.

For any additional information on GHATS, including history, award information as well as an online story with GHATS merchandise, please check the website, www.ghats.org.