Yesterday several members from District Six who had traveled to Washington DC met with their elected representatives and their staffers in the name of athletic training. Some of the District Six leadership that attended were National Director Brian Conway, SWATA President Mike Carroll, SWATA Convention Chair BJ Maack, and NATA CEPAT chair Kathy Dieringer. There were also many other members from Texas and Arkansas in attendance. The NATA continues to fight for its members by moving forward with HR 1137 or the ATEAM legislation (Athletic Trainers Equal Access to Medicare). This is a legislative fix to a ruling made about five years ago by the Center for Medicare Services which said that physicians are not able to have athletic trainers provide "incident to" services.
I was able to meet with my congressman to discuss the ATEAM legislation and also this year's hot topic of concussions and having adequate athletic health care available for young athletes. I came away from the meeting feeling like this process does indeed work and our legislators do listen. With health care being such a hot topic on the Hill these days our cause is particularly timely.
While I understand that not all of you have the time to travel to Washington DC to personally everyone can send an e-mail to their elected representative. To communicate with your representatives go to www.nata.org and about half way down on the right is the link for the legislative alert center. It only takes a few minutes to do, but the results of this communication will benefit all of us.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Regional Association Spotlight: NTATS
As we wrap up our regional organization spotlights today with NTATS, I still would like to recognize the other groups that meet around the district. If your group has not been spotlighted, please contact me at david.traylor@kellerisd.net and we will make sure we recognize your group.
The North Texas Athletic Trainer Society was established in its current form in 2000, with SWATA Hall of Famer Doug Gibbins serving as the associations first President. NTATS hosts a yearly student athletic trainer symposium, usually held in the spring. In 2009, that meeting has its highest attendance to date with over 400 students and 150 professionals. In serving the North Texas region, NTATS has strived to help promote and enhance the profession of athletic training among its members and its communities.
The Ben Buck Memorial Scholarship was established in 2005 to honor the son of Ken Buck, athletic trainer at West Mesquite High School Athletic Trainer (and current NTATS Secretary)who passed away at the age of 7 in 2004. Two $500 scholarships are given each spring to high school senior athletic training students who are pursuing the profession in college. Applications for the Ben Buck Memorial Scholarship are due by March 3rd. Requirements and applications can be found on the NTATS website.
In 2009, NTATS established two awards to recognize members within the North Texas area who have made a significant contribution to the profession of athletic training. Named after two former NTATS Presidents, the Aubry Fisk Exemplary Service Award and the Doug Gibbins Above and Beyond Award are awarded annually at the yearly symposium. Applications need to be submitted by March 4th and can be found under the Awards & honors tab on the NTATS website.
The 2010 NTATS Symposium is being held on Saturday April 10, 2010, at Mansfield Timberview High School. Registration will begin at 7:30 am and the day will end around 2:00 pm. The event is free to all who wish to attend – 3 CEU’s will be awarded to professionals, free lunch and t-shirts will be provided for all participants and a great selection of door prizes will be given out. The day will culminate with the Annual Student Athletic Trainer Olympics as the Lewisville High School Fighting Farmers attempt to defend their title. We hope to see everyone there.
Details on everything listed above can be found at www.ntats.com.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend and never hesitate to let us know what your Executive Board can do you you.
DT
SWATA Vice President
Thursday, February 18, 2010
SWATA Annual Meeting July 22 - 24, 2010 - SAVE THE DATE!
Good morning fellow SWATA members. I know that it's still February, but I wanted to remind everyone to save the dates for the SWATA Annual Meeting this summer. This year we will be shortening our meeting to a 2 1/2 day format. Even with the shortened format an attendee will still be able to get 19 valuable CEU. An athletic trainer would be hard pressed to get more CEU at a lower price than the SWATA annual meeting.
This year's annual meeting will once again be held at the Arlington Convention Center and the host hotel will be the Arlington Sheraton. Committee day and the SWATA golf tournament is Wednesday July 21 and the educational sessions begin at 8 am on Thursday July 22. The welcome reception will be Thursday night. We will be going to an Honors & Awards luncheon on Friday this year instead of the evening banquet like in years past. Because of that we have left Friday evening open for alumni receptions. Saturday July 24 we will end with the business meeting during mid day. This will allow the athletic trainer and their family to either have the rest of the day on Saturday to visit any of the area attractions such as Six Flags or Hurricane Harbor if they choose or simple leave and travel back to their home towns.
Keep checking back on the Executive Board Blog, SWATA website (www.swata.org) , and other communications from SWATA for more information.
This year's annual meeting will once again be held at the Arlington Convention Center and the host hotel will be the Arlington Sheraton. Committee day and the SWATA golf tournament is Wednesday July 21 and the educational sessions begin at 8 am on Thursday July 22. The welcome reception will be Thursday night. We will be going to an Honors & Awards luncheon on Friday this year instead of the evening banquet like in years past. Because of that we have left Friday evening open for alumni receptions. Saturday July 24 we will end with the business meeting during mid day. This will allow the athletic trainer and their family to either have the rest of the day on Saturday to visit any of the area attractions such as Six Flags or Hurricane Harbor if they choose or simple leave and travel back to their home towns.
Keep checking back on the Executive Board Blog, SWATA website (www.swata.org) , and other communications from SWATA for more information.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
SWATA Executive Board has successful mid winter meeting
This past weekend in El Paso, Texas your SWATA Executive Board met regarding all things SWATA. We also co-hosted a member reception with the Sun City Athletic Trainers' Association. The member reception was especially enjoyable because we on the executive board were able to meet and talk with athletic trainers that work and live in the El Paso area.
During the course of the two day meeting the executive board got reports from the NATA, the TSATA, the AATA, and all of your hard working committees. We also acted on the requests that many of the committee chairs had. On Sunday morning we heard proposals from several hotel properties in Houston that would like to host the 2013 SWATA Annual Meeting. Finally we were brought up to speed on this year's annual meeting that will be held in Arlington this July. Program chair Tina Bonci has done an outstanding job with the program and members will be able to obtain 19 CEU for a two and one half day meeting. Look to this blog and also the SWATA website (http://www.swata.com) for more information on this meeting.
There is still one more week to nominate someone for either Vice President, Secretary, or Arkansas state representative. Also nominations for many SWATA awards including Hall of Fame and the newly established Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer are open for another week. For more information check the SWATA website.
During the course of the two day meeting the executive board got reports from the NATA, the TSATA, the AATA, and all of your hard working committees. We also acted on the requests that many of the committee chairs had. On Sunday morning we heard proposals from several hotel properties in Houston that would like to host the 2013 SWATA Annual Meeting. Finally we were brought up to speed on this year's annual meeting that will be held in Arlington this July. Program chair Tina Bonci has done an outstanding job with the program and members will be able to obtain 19 CEU for a two and one half day meeting. Look to this blog and also the SWATA website (http://www.swata.com) for more information on this meeting.
There is still one more week to nominate someone for either Vice President, Secretary, or Arkansas state representative. Also nominations for many SWATA awards including Hall of Fame and the newly established Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer are open for another week. For more information check the SWATA website.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Congratulations!!!!
I want to take a moment to recognize an individual within our Association who is about to receive a wonderful honor. Mr. Aubry Fisk, who is currently employed at North Texas Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in Grapevine, will be inducted into the Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD Athletic Hall of Fame this weekend. Aubry, the longtime athletic trainer at Trinity High School and Haltom High School, will be inducted in a ceremony on Saturday.
A lot of times, we talk about the people in the profession that make significant impacts in our careers, and Aubry fits that description for so many folks. Aubry and his wonderful wife Priscilla have been longtime friends of my wife and I. They immediately took us in when we moved to the area and helped get us involved in our professional associations. He has always been encouraging and never has anything but a smile on his face. My kids love when they get the opportunity to see “Uncle Aubry”.
Aubry is a Past SWATA President and a past President of NTATS. He has always been one of the first to volunteer his time towards a cause and never turns away when a favor is asked of him. But, and most importantly of all, Aubry is a terrific role model for younger athletic trainers and his selfless work in this profession has made a terrific impact on so many people over the years. So, I just wanted to take the brief moment to tell congratulation to Aubry for this terrific recognition. If you know Aubry, please make sure to express your thanks to him for all that he has done.
A lot of times, we talk about the people in the profession that make significant impacts in our careers, and Aubry fits that description for so many folks. Aubry and his wonderful wife Priscilla have been longtime friends of my wife and I. They immediately took us in when we moved to the area and helped get us involved in our professional associations. He has always been encouraging and never has anything but a smile on his face. My kids love when they get the opportunity to see “Uncle Aubry”.
Aubry is a Past SWATA President and a past President of NTATS. He has always been one of the first to volunteer his time towards a cause and never turns away when a favor is asked of him. But, and most importantly of all, Aubry is a terrific role model for younger athletic trainers and his selfless work in this profession has made a terrific impact on so many people over the years. So, I just wanted to take the brief moment to tell congratulation to Aubry for this terrific recognition. If you know Aubry, please make sure to express your thanks to him for all that he has done.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
SWATA & Sun City Athletic Trainers' Association sponsor member reception
This weekend your SWATA Executive Board will be travelling to El Paso to have their annual mid winter board meeting. As has been the recent tradition of moving the mid winter meeting around to all parts of the district we will also be hosting a member reception on Saturday evening. All athletic trainers are invited to attend.
The Sun City Athletic Trainers' Association and their president David Montelongo have graciously agreed to co sponsor a member reception. If you are in the El Paso area on Saturday we encourage you to attend.
What: SWATA and Sun City ATA member reception
Where: El Paso Airport Radisson
When: Saturday February 6 5:30 pm - 7 pm
We hope to see you there.
The Sun City Athletic Trainers' Association and their president David Montelongo have graciously agreed to co sponsor a member reception. If you are in the El Paso area on Saturday we encourage you to attend.
What: SWATA and Sun City ATA member reception
Where: El Paso Airport Radisson
When: Saturday February 6 5:30 pm - 7 pm
We hope to see you there.
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