Election Day

March 21st, 2011 07:57:49 am

One of the most important things you can do as a citizen of this great country is take advantage of your right to vote.  You have the right to decide who represents you in various aspects of government and if you don’t like the job they are doing, you have the right to question them and even vote them out of office. 

As a SWATA member, you also have the opportunity to decide who represents you on the SWATA Executive Board.  As we make decisions as a Board, we take into consideration how these decisions would impact the membership and we make sure that this is our foremost priority.  I would hope that if you have a question or concern with regards to SWATA or anything that we are doing as an Association, you have sought out a Board member and asked them questions about your concerns.  I guarantee you that if we do not know the answer, we will work hard to get that answer for you.

Well, tomorrow (March 22, 2011), you have an opportunity to make a decision about who will be our next NATA District Director.  While Brian Conway has one year left on his term, this allows the Director - Elect to shadow Brian for one year to become familiar with the NATA BOD and how they operate before taking office in June of 2012.  This year we have four individuals that were nominated for this position, all of whom have served within SWATA, both on the Executive Board as well as on various committees.  It is important that you make an informed decision and vote on this position as this individual is our voice to the NATA and represents you on the national level.  In an effort to help you make this decision, several steps have been taken to share information with you.  In our current SWATA Newsletter (http://www.swata.org/images/SWATANewsletter52_2.pdf), each candidate was asked a number of questions and their responses are there for your reading.  Also, the Young Professionals Committee has worked to compile a questionnaire for the candidates that deals with issues that affect our young professionals – those questions and the candidate’s responses can be found on the YP blog  (http://www.swataypc.blogspot.com/).  You will also have an opportunity to vote on the winner of this year’s Eddie Wojecki Award, given annually to an individual with outstanding service to SWATA.

It is important, no matter what setting you work in, to take a few minutes and make an informed decision tomorrow.  The election will be on-line until May 2.  Please let us know if you have any issues or questions and have a terrific week.

DT

SWATA President

It's Your Month!!!!!!

March 2nd, 2011 07:42:27 am

I am going to re-post a blog from last year (with a few minor changes)........I think it is fitting and I hope that you take me up on this.

With all the crazy snow behind us, spring looks to be on the horizon. Baseball and softball are in full swing. Soccer is winding down. Spring break is coming up in the next few weeks. Spring football is right around the corner (and we all know how much athletic trainers love spring football!) It is also the first part of March, which has been designated as National Athletic Trainers month. The theme of this year’s festivities is “Not All Athletes Wear Jerseys”. This is the time of year as athletic trainers that we get out and promote our profession and make as many people aware of what athletic trainers do.
 

Athletic trainers are some of the most humble people that I know. They thrive at being out of the spotlight and working behind the scenes. That is where they feel the most comfortable because they know their work is appreciated on a different level – helping the kids. I would like to challenge you to do something – be greedy and selfish this month. Throw the humbleness out the window! Stand on the rooftops and shout about what you do for your workplace. If you work in a school setting, spend as much time as you can talking with administrators and parents explaining what you do and how you benefit the athletes. Make sure people understand that you are an “athletic trainer” and not just a “trainer”. Make sure that people recognize your student athletic trainers for what they are – a valuable part of the success of the athletic department and not just “waterboys” or “ankle tapers”. Use this month as an educational tool to try and make this profession attractive for those students……you never know when you are potentially influencing the next Sandy Miller or Cash Birdwell. Do everything you can to help advertise that you are part of a wonderful profession and that you are valuable.

 

A good friend of mine and SWATA Convention Chair B.J. Maack always puts a statement on his Facebook page that reads simply “Who is taking care of your kids?” National Athletic Training Month is also a time to try to make the working conditions better for yourself. It is a time to try to make the situation better for your student athletes and ensure that their health is one of the most important concerns of your administrators. Yesterday, two potentially tragic events occurred in the Houston area, each within a few hours of each other. A Dawson High School sophomore collapsed during a routine football practice drill around 1 p.m., officials with Pearland ISD said. Nearly three hours later, a Magnolia West High School soccer player collapsed on the practice field, according to a Magnolia ISD statement. Both student athletes were saved due to the actions of an athletic trainer who responded with an AED. What if those schools did not have an athletic trainer? There are still many schools throughout District 6 that do not have a full time athletic trainer on site – this is a good month to work towards making sure the worst case scenario doesn’t happen because there wasn’t a qualified health care professional there for those kids.

 

For more ideas on how to promote National Athletic Training month, you can go to this link : http://www.nata.org/national-athletic-training-month

This is your month to shine and promote what you do – don’t hesitate to show everyone how proud you are of this wonderful profession.

 

I hope you have a terrific weekend and please never hesitate to let us know what we can do for you.

DT

SWATA President

SWATA 2011 Annual Meeting and Clinical Symposia Registration Now Open!!!!!!

March 2nd, 2011 07:34:57 am

Good morning,

The registration for the 57th Annual SWATA Meeting and Clinical Symposia, being held at the Westin Galleria in Houston, is now open.  We received several requests from our membership, primarily due to the ever changing world of education finance, to open our registration early.  Therefore, we are now on-line and ready to go.  Due to the fact that we are opening a bit earlier than planned, please bear with us as there are several details that are not on-line yet.  The exact schedule of our programming, both professional and student, have not been finalized and will be uploaded as soon as they are ready.  The same holds true for our exhibit hall times, vendor reception times and details about our 2011 SWATA / TSATA Welcome Reception (trust me.......you don't want to miss this fun event)

We hope that you are making plans to join us in Houston from July 13 - 16.  Please let us know if you have any questions about our registration or if there is anything we can do for you. 

DT

SWATA President