Tag: National Athletic Trainers’ Association

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TWU NAMED LSC ATHLETIC TRAINING STAFF OF THE YEAR

The athletic training staff at Texas Woman’s University was honored by their peers with the 11th annual Lone Star Conference Athletic Training Staff of the Year award for the 2014-15 academic year.

TWU claimed the athletic training award for the league, which consists of nine member institutions with seven in Texas, one in Oklahoma and one in New Mexico.

Kris Ring, head athletic trainer, guides the Pioneers athletic training staff with assistance from Valerie Stevenson and Nikki Sanchez along with students Kimberly Smith, Taylor Wooten and Jesse Frankland.

The LSC Athletic Training Staff of the Year award is presented annually to the top institution as voted by the head athletic trainer of each member school.

The purpose of the award is to raise awareness of the athletic training profession. Criteria for the award include the athletic training staff’s hospitality toward visiting athletic trainers and teams; preparedness with supplies, equipment and services for visiting athletic trainers and teams; preparedness for emergency situations; and care for injured athletes from visiting teams.

Lone Star Conference Athletic Training Staff of the Year
2014-15     Texas Woman’s
2013-14     Angelo State
2012-13     Tarleton State
2011-12      Midwestern State
2010-11      Eastern New Mexico
2009-10     Midwestern State
2008-09    Eastern New Mexico and Southwestern Oklahoma
2007-08     Midwestern State, Southeastern Oklahoma and Northeastern State
2006-07     Abilene Christian and Southwestern Oklahoma
2005-06     Angelo State and Southeastern Oklahoma
2004-05     Angelo State and Southwestern Oklahoma

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.lonestarconference.org/news/2015/7/30/GEN_0730150535.aspx?path=general

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Former Glenbrook South Athletic Trainer Inducted Into Hall of Fame

Longtime former Glenbrook South High School athletic trainer Brian Robinson has been named to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s (NATA) Hall of Fame – the highest honor an athletic trainer can receive.

Robinson was one of eight to be inducted to the Hall of Fame at NATA’s 66th Clinical Symposia in June. The Hall of Fame now includes 296 members.

According to the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), Robinson – who served as head athletic trainer at GBS from 1977 to 2014 – has “impacted the profession through his passionate advocacy for athletic trainers, particularly those in secondary schools.”

At GBS, he developed a concussion management program, a rehabilitation program for injured athletes and a database for tracking injuries and treatment plans.

“Since there are few high school athletic trainers in the NATA Hall of Fame, the recognition is very gratifying but as you know, anyone that works with high school students never got into education for the awards,” said Robinson, who is now employed by Northern Illinois University. “I had the privilege of providing comprehensive athletic health care to high school student-athletes for 38 years; 37 of those in Illinois at Glenbrook South.”

When Robinson was hired by GBS in 1977, there were not many athletic trainers at Illinois high schools, but now more than 60 percent of them employ the services of trainers.

“Hopefully soon, every Illinois high school student-athlete will have access to an athletic trainer on a daily basis,” Robinson added.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://patch.com/illinois/glenview/former-glenbrook-south-trainer-inducted-hall-fame-0

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Sports-Medicine Staffs Report Pressure to Clear Concussed Athletes Prematurely

More than half of the 900 respondents to a 2013 survey of NCAA athletic trainers and team physicians said they had felt pressure to return concussed players to action before the athletes were medically ready.

Sixty-four percent of responding clinicians said that the athletes had sought premature clearance to play, while nearly 54 percent of the surveyed medical-staff members had felt pressure from coaches, according to the study, published in the Journal of Athletic Training.

Athletic trainers and physicians experienced greater pressure from coaches when their jobs were under the purview of the athletic department rather than an independent medical institution.

There were also differences in the pressure reported by male and female medical-staff members, with more women than men reportedly feeling pressure from coaches to put players back on the field too early.

The authors did not quantify the frequency or intensity of the pressure on medical staffs, nor did they determine whether such pressures had affected return-to-play decisions.

Nonetheless, they called the findings “troubling” and urged institutions to review their supervisory structure to reduce conflicts of interest in the care of athletes and to introduce “interventions” to improve communication among coaches, athletes, and clinicians.

The study, which includes responses from medical professionals at all three NCAA levels, is the most extensive to examine concussion-treatment pressures on athletic trainers and team physicians.

In 2013, The Chronicle surveyed medical professionals at the 120 most-prominent NCAA institutions. Of the 101 who responded, more than half said they had felt pressure from football coaches to return concussed players to action faster than was in their best interest medically.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/sports-medicine-staffs-report-pressure-to-clear-concussed-athletes-prematurely/102451

REFERENCED ARTICLE:

http://natajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.4085/1062-6050-50.6.03

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Weber State professor wins national athletic trainer award

Weber State University received national attention last month as Valerie Herzog, director of the WSU Graduate Athletic Training Program, was named one of the 2015 Most Distinguished Athletic Trainers by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association.

“The Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer award recognizes NATA members who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to leadership, volunteer service, advocacy and distinguished professional activities as an athletic trainer,” reads the NATA website.

The annual award is given to trainers who have been members of NATA for at least 20 years and are dedicated to many athletic organizations and helping the community at national and district levels. Herzog has been a member of NATA for roughly 22 years.

“I was nominated by a colleague, but had to solicit several letters of support, at least one from an athletic trainer who is in the NATA Hall of Fame,” said Herzog.

In addition to that, she also provided a list of her services to the community, research she has conducted and presentations she has given.

Herzog is the President of the Utah Athletic Trainers’ Association and a board member for the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education. She has also worked to help certify athletic trainers and organizing athletic trainer conferences.

Her research has been published in multiple journals. Topics of Herzog’s research has included the effect of salted ice bags on the cooling of muscle tissue and building relationships with clinical instructors.

“It is an incredible honor to be recognized in this way, and I feel very blessed that Weber State University allows me the time and flexibility to serve my profession,” Herzog said. “I want to make sure that I continue to live up to what the award stands for.”

She has also been recognized for many different awards in the past, including the John A. Lindquist Award in 2013 for her commitment to mentoring Weber State University students.

Herzog also encourages her students to volunteer in the community. She contacts local events such as the Dew Tour, Special Olympics and marathons to help them out.

“The students assist with providing medical care for any injuries that occur during the events,” she said. “These experiences give them the opportunity to work with different patient populations and develop cultural competence.”

The title was presented at NATA’s 66th Clinical Symposia & AT Expo in St. Louis on June 25. About 12,000 athletic trainers attended the annual conference.

“It felt amazing, and I am so very grateful for all of my colleagues over the years who gave me the opportunity to serve our profession in so many ways,” Herzog said.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

http://www.wsusignpost.com/2015/07/27/weber-state-professor-wins-national-athletic-trainer-award/

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In summer heat, athletic trainers call for safety measures

A thousand-dollar expenditure for an automated external defibrillator (AED) could mean the difference between life and death for some young athletes, a cost that one Little Rock, Arkansas high school knows too well.

A heart abnormality caused 16-year-old Antony Hobbs to collapse during his Parkview High basketball game in 2008. Hobbs was unaware of his condition, likely present since birth. Though an ambulance responded, he died about an hour after an otherwise ordinary game tip-off.

The outcome differed starkly two years later when another Parkview player, Chris Winston, collapsed on court with the same condition. A new state law, named for Hobbs, had required that AEDs be placed in schools, and AED use led to Winston’s survival.

While Arkansas’ policy followed tragedy, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine are asking schools to proactively take measures to protect kids before summer training for fall sports.

“We’ve mostly been reactionary in terms of our preparations,” said Jonathan Drezner, a University of Washington sports medicine physician and co-author of an editorial in the Journal of Athletic Training that calls for emergency practice implementation in schools. “It shouldn’t be that a kid has to die for the school to be prepared,” he said.

In 2014, 11 high school football players died during practice or competition, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research. Five deaths were a result of brain injury or cervical fracture. Six were the result of heart conditions, heat stroke or water intoxication.

“AEDs are a relatively inexpensive way of saving a life,” said Doug Casa, CEO of the University of Connecticut’s Korey Stringer Institute, which works to prevent sudden deaths in sports. Casa authored NATA’s “best practice” guidelines in 2012 for school sporting events.

In addition to calling for AEDs onsite, the guidelines advise schools to develop heat acclimatization programs, with phase-ins of equipment, along with gradual increases in intensity and duration of exercise. Football practice in early August is the most dangerous time for heat strokes in young athletes, according to the organization.

The recommendations also call for schools to coordinate their emergency plans with local emergency services.

Nationwide adoption of the guidelines has proven slow, however. Only 14 of 50 states, for example, meet NATA “best-practices” regarding heat.

And according to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, only 19 states have laws mandating AEDs in at least some schools.

Jason Cates, an athletic trainer for Cabot Public Schools in Cabot, Arkansas, was among those who worked for changes after Hobbs’ death to ensure the safety of Arkansas’ student-athletes. For districts with limited budgets, he suggests enlisting support from local booster clubs and parent-teacher organizations, and holding fundraisers during games.

To schools that install new turf or expensive video screens instead of safety measures, Cates says, “If you can afford to do that stuff, you can afford athletic health care.”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/07/23/us-health-kids-sports-idUKKCN0PX1XN20150723

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When should the coach not be the boss?

With colleges on the cusp of pre-season football practice, there’s an off-field battle worth keeping an eye on: Coaches vs. medical personnel.

Head coaches at a majority of the big-time college football programs insist on hiring, supervising and firing the doctors and athletic trainers that attend to their student-athletes. Not surprisingly, medical practitioners don’t believe the practice is in the best interest of the student-athletes. Two years ago, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, joined by five other medical groups including the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, issued a public statement along with a set of recommendations against the practice. In their words, “Freedom in their professional practice is ensured when neither the team physician nor the athletic trainer has a coach as his or her primary supervisor, and no coach has authority over the appointment or employment of sports medicine providers.”

While the groups’ intent seems obvious, not everyone in the business of collegiate athletics is supportive. Greg Sankey, the newly installed commissioner of the SEC, was recently quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying: “A coach is going to trust the person he hires. If it’s someone he doesn’t get to choose, sometimes that can lead to more conflict or questioning. The trust isn’t there.”

Sankey’s comments incensed the medical community. Dr. James Tucker, Head Team Physician at Syracuse University, told Training & Conditioning, “For the medical community…his statement is just short of outrageous. (Coaches hiring medical staff is) … a conflict of interest. Medical people should do what medical people do and coaches should do what they do… With the pressures that coaches are under I think it’s hard for them to be objective, especially when they don’t have the depth of knowledge that medical staff does.”

It is incomprehensible how anyone can disagree with Tucker’s comments. Coaches wouldn’t tolerate medical personnel telling them what plays to run or which assistants to hire. Where do coaches get off telling medical staff how to do their jobs?

The answer of course lies in the power and authority that coaches have been ceded by their institutions. And as Tucker pointed out, coaches are under immense pressure, not to maintain the short- or long-term health and wellbeing of their athletes or to educate them. In order for coaches to remain employed and earn their multi-million dollar contracts, they need to win. And it’s easier to win with your best athletes in the lineup, healthy or not.

Dr. Brian Hainline, a New York University neurologist and the NCAA’s chief Medical Officer since 2013, has campaigned for giving medical personnel unchallenged authority from coaches and athletic departments. Hainline told the Wall Street Journal, “Doctors should have complete autonomy to operate in the best interest of players.” To that end, he released a set of guidelines which include a recommendation that the role and employment status of team doctors should be determined through a formal administrative process, i.e., medical personnel should not be appointed by or report to the coach.

But that’s not the reality at most major schools. In a survey of FBS schools conducted by The Chronicle of Higher Education, 40 percent of football athletic trainers said they either reported directly to the coach or a member of the coaching staff, or the head coach or another member of his staff had influence over the hiring and firing decisions. More than half of all trainers who responded to the survey said they had felt pressured to return an athlete to play before they felt he was ready.

The NFL has a five-page Return-to-Play Policy for all concussed players. The Policy mandates that “the decision to return a player to participation remains within the professional judgment of the Head Team Physician or Team Physician designated for concussion evaluation and treatment.” Furthermore, “all return to full participation decisions are to be confirmed by the Independent Neurological Consultant.”

Why can’t the NCAA mandate similar protocols? They can, but the governing body – and member schools – are afraid of lawsuits should any mandated protocols not be followed. But the absence of mandates hasn’t prevented lawsuits from being brought against both the NCAA and individual schools.

If the NCAA and their members were really concerned about student-athletes they would have adopted Hainline’s guidelines long ago. The fact that they haven’t speaks volumes about their real interests.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

http://dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=147922

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NOONAN receives Hall call

Terry Noonan, director of athletic training services at the University of Iowa, was inducted into the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame on June 25 in St. Louis.

Noonan, 59, began working at the UI in April, 2010. He has been in the profession since 1981. “It means a lot more once you take it all in,” Noonan said. “You don’t set out to get into the Hall of Fame, but once you get in, you’re honored. It’s amazing hearing `thank you’ from the number of people you have influenced. You get a real perspective of your achievement when you are informed that about one percent of close to 30,000 members of the National Athletic Trainers Association are in the Hall of Fame.”

A native of Dubuque, Iowa, Noonan received a bachelor’s degree in recreation administration with a minor in business administration from Loras College in 1978. He went to Eastern Kentucky University and earned a master’s degree in recreation administration in 1979.

Noonan wanted to become an athletic trainer, so he enrolled at the University of Northern Iowa and functioned as a graduate assistant and completed athletic training courses. After working two years at Waterloo (Iowa) Columbus High School (1981-83), Noonan returned to UNI as assistant (1983-85) and head athletic trainer (1985-99). From 1999-2007, he was at Oklahoma State University as director of sports medicine/athletic training program. Noonan made another stop at UNI as executive director of human sport and performance program from 2007-10 while completing doctoral study in rehabilitative medicine.

Noonan received news that he was going into the Hall of Fame two years ago, but he delayed his induction until it was in a city within NATA’s District V, where he was president from 1999-2005. The ceremony in St. Louis also made it easier for his wife, son, brother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, bother-in-law, and sister-in-law to attend.

Noonan began athletic training at Loras after his baseball coach taught him a Cramer course.

“That got me started,” Noonan said. “I didn’t have much to do and (Loras) needed somebody to help with basketball.”

At Iowa, Noonan oversees policies, procedures, and insurance for all 24 sports. His main responsibility is with the sport of volleyball. There are four associate directors of athletic training services at the UI: Russ Haynes, Mike Lawler, Doug West, and Nobutaka Takashima.

Of all the stops Noonan has made over the years, nothing has felt more like home than being at Iowa.

“This is the best environment I have worked in,” Noonan said. “It is a family atmosphere and it is a lot more diverse than other places I have been. (Points to the Tigerhawk logo on his shirt) It is this emblem. You can’t walk through an airport without somebody saying `Go Hawks.'”

Noonan is a member of the Iowa Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame, District V of the NATA Hall of Fame, and he received the Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer award from the NATA in June 2012. He holds Certification in Active Release Techniques for the total body, and Certification in First Aid and CPR. Noonan is the first athletic trainer from the UI to be inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame.

Noonan and his wife, Jeri, have a son, Casey, who works for a land management company in Oklahoma City.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.hawkeyesports.com/genrel/071615aad.html

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Gardner-Webb’s Kevin Jones Named 2015 Division I Athletic Trainer of the Year

Longtime Gardner-Webb University Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Training Training Kevin Jones was named College/University Athletic Trainers’ Committee 2015 Division I Athletic Trainer of the Year Thursday at the annual NATA Convention.

Jones (MA, ATC, LAT), who is entering his 32nd season with the Runnin’ Bulldogs, also serves as an Assistant Professor and as a Preceptor in the athletic training major in Gardner-Webb University’s School of Preventative and Rehabilitative Health Sciences.

“I feel honored to win such a prestigious award and to represent Gardner-Webb University,” said Jones. “I have been very fortunate to have been surrounded by great mentors, co-workers, students and student-athletes.

“The true reward in athletic training is to see others succeed. I have been blessed to share in their successes.”

Jones took over the Gardner-Webb athletic training program in 1984. His tireless effort has consistently driven the program’s reputation to the highest level and Jones has been the catalyst in the addition of athletic training as an academic major.

Since his arrival on campus, countless student athletic trainers and other staff have gone on to successful careers in the field. One of Jones’ pupils, current Mars Hill head athletic trainer Allen Shelley (MA, ATC, LAT), was honored as the 2015 Division II Athletic Trainer of the Year on Thursday morning in St. Louis.

Shelley earned his undergraduate degree from Gardner-Webb in 1992 and a master’s degree from GWU in 1995.

Jones was honored in 2007 by Gardner-Webb’s athletic department with its Hall of Fame Meritorious Service Award and was named Gardner-Webb University Male Staff Member of the year in 2014.

“This is a great honor for Kevin, personally and professionally, and we join he and his family in celebrating,” said Gardner-Webb Vice President for Athletics Chuck Burch.

“His work over the past three decades to advance the quality our athletic training program has been instrumental in the ability to provide student-athletes with top-notch care.”

During his early years at Gardner-Webb, Jones spent time as the school’s track and field coach. An avid cyclist, Jones played a critical role in bringing the 1996 U.S. Olympic Cycling Trials Women’s Road Race to Boiling Springs, N.C.

Jones earned a degree in physical education with an emphasis in athletic training from Lenoir-Rhyne in 1984 and graduated with a master’s degree in physical education from Gardner-Webb in 1986. He and his wife, Shelly, have a daughter, Taylor, and a son, Ryan.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.gwusports.com/sports/fball/2014-15/releases/20150625wp1nx1

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Sally Nogle earns Tim Kerin Award

Add the Tim Kerin Award to the long list of recognition for Michigan State head athletic trainer Sally Nogle.

Nogle received the award, given to one individual each year for outstanding service as an athletic trainer, on Thursday in St. Louis at the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s national convention. It has been awarded in the name of Kerin, the late, longtime University of Tennessee trainer, since 1994. Kerin died suddenly from an aortic aneurysm in 1992.

“This is quite a professional honor, especially since I knew Tim Kerin,” Nogle said in a statement. “As a young professional, I looked up to Tim because he had established himself as a leader in this field. He had quite an impact on this profession.”

Also Thursday, MSU associate head athletic trainer Dave Carrier was inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame. Carrier is entering his 32nd season as the athletic trainer of the MSU hockey team.

Nogle was inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame in 2012. She received the Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award in 2003 and the NATA Service Award in 1998.

Nogle also has received the Michigan Athletic Trainers’ Society Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award and the Michigan Athletic Trainers’ Society Hall of Fame Award. In 2006, she received the Jack Breslin Outstanding Staff Award for Michigan State University.

In 2008, Nogle was honored with the San Diego State University Robert J. Moore Distinguished Alumnus Award, and in 2012 she received the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers’ Association (GLATA) Outstanding Educator Award.

Nogle has been with MSU’s training staff since 1983 and was promoted MSU head athletic trainer and head football athletic trainer in 2013.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:                                                                 http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/sports/2015/06/25/msu-athletic-trainer-sally-nogle-earns-tim-kerin-award/29288719/