Jun 23, 2025Q&ATC with CATA president Jessica Testani
Jessica Testani has been the Connecticut Athletic Trainers’ Association (CATA) president since 2023. As the director of clinical growth and development for Advanced Physical Therapy, she leads the athletic training program that serves 10 high school in Connecticut.
She graduated with her B.S. in exercise science from Sacred Heart University before receiving her M.S. in athletic training from Shenandoah University. Testani went on to work with Rutgers University’s football program as a graduate assistant in addition to Major League Soccer’s D.C. United. After graduating from Shenandoah, she remained with D.C. United’s first team and academy program before returning home to Connecticut.
Her traditional athletic training work has included stops with NCAA Division I and III colleges, as well as working at the professional, youth, and secondary school levels. While working at prep school as the athletic trainer, she wore multiple hats — also serving as an anatomy and physiology teacher, advisor, and assistant athletic director.
Testani agreed to take part in Training & Conditioning’s ongoing Q&ATC series. Below is an edited portion of that interview.
Training & Conditioning: As CATA president, what are your top advocacy priorities for athletic trainers in Connecticut, and how do they align with national trends?
Testani: Right now, it is imperative to address barriers and challenges to the recruitment and retention of athletic trainers. We must be transparent with what those challenges are and utilize our relationships with physicians and stakeholders to address what we can. We were able to pass a task force to study the shortage of athletic trainers in Connecticut last fall and continue to meet as a group with athletic trainers at varying settings, physicians, athletic directors, legislators, organizational leaders, and others to first establish what our barriers are and then create possible solutions and projects. Out of that task force we currently have legislation moving through to aid in our efforts with recruitment (i.e. student loan reimbursement, educational opportunities for high school and undergraduate students, and stipends for athletic trainers relocating to the state, as well as retention education) for stakeholders on the perceived value of the athletic trainer role, positive work environments, and appropriate staffing.
We are also putting forth intentional effort to bring athletic trainers across the state together with continuing education and best practice skill development, networking opportunities, and conversations around a positive work environment.
T&C: What have been some of CATA’s biggest challenges during your tenure? How have you navigated those challenges?
Testani: I think the challenge remains the lack of awareness, at times, as to why it is an athletic trainer that is serving as a medical provider on a sideline. We work well within our comprehensive care teams and alongside multiple health care and sports professionals and our education and skillset may complement those professionals but the difference and unique skillset and education of the athletic trainer is imperative in the emergency care/emergency action planning, concussion/differential diagnosis, return to play, and other crucial aspects in student-athlete and patient care. Education and advocacy are key here, and we have really leaned on our relationships with the physicians to have them bring forth the messaging from their perspective as well.
T&C: Workload and burnout continue to be major issues for athletic trainers. What strategies or policies do you think could help make the profession more sustainable?
Testani: What I have learned is that workload and burnout are not as simple as I may have thought initially. It is both intrinsically and extrinsically carried. In a recent conversation with Valliance Counseling and Coaching (a mental health group in Connecticut) I was reminded that there are “immovable walls” that we can not change about the traditional athletic training setting (i.e schedule changes, long hours, workload, stress, etc.) and if we focus on those, it can lead to stronger burnout because of our intrinsic focus on things we cannot change. Instead, we must focus on what we can change — perceived value, assertive communication with our leadership teams and supervisors, boundaries, etc.
T&C: How are athletic trainers in Connecticut adapting to increased awareness around mental health and the whole-athlete approach to care?
Testani: Developing and maintaining relationships with mental health professionals and athletic counselors has been something I focus on and have seen be very effective for both athletic trainers and our patient populations. Understanding strategies, skills, and how to approach mental health conversations and concerns is important, and it is also extremely important to know when it is no longer in your wheelhouse, but to appropriately and effectively refer to our mental health providers. We have started a partnership with Justin Carotti at Valiance Counseling and Coaching in Milford, CT. Justin is a certified clinical social worker (and maintains other crucial certifications) and has Matt Reiger, a certified mental performance coach among other professionals on his team. We’ve all had multiple conversations for our social media and online content speaking to the mental health of the athletic trainer (burnout, energy balance, boundaries, etc) and skills/practices to take care of yourself, as well as, mental performance and mental health of our patient population.
T&C: What legal or liability trends should ATs be aware of today, especially regarding documentation, return-to-play decisions, or sideline management?
Testani: If you don’t document it, it didn’t happen. Documentation is vital in your liability and your perceived value conversations. Look for ways to make it “easier” on yourself with dictation and apps, but make sure you cover yourself. You should have your key relationships, mainly your physician signing your standing orders, to discuss clinical decision making to ensure you are doing your best by your patient and following correct protocols, so everyone is on the same page and knows why and how you came to your decisions. You need to be clear in expectations and in your process for decision making and have those conversations, at the appropriate delivery, to coaches, supervisors, athletes/parents, stakeholders whenever you can so you build the trust with those around you so when you make a hard decision, It is less stressful because they all trust and know you are making the decision that has to be made through careful process. You can do this at pre-season meetings, parent meetings, job site meetings, yearly/seasonal check-ins, really anytime you can get an audience — not for ego but for everyone to hear you, see you, and build trust with those around you.
Also, ask the tough questions of your employer or job assignment. Do you know where and have all necessary equipment (AED on site, keys, etc.), what is the support you have when making decisions, how are you covered in liability, who is the underlying and final decision maker on site? Be prepared and have a full understanding when it comes to liability, because you can’t say “I didn’t know” if liability is in question.
T&C: What advice would you give to high school and college ATs looking to take the next step in their professional journey, whether that’s into leadership, education, or advocacy?
Testani: A lot of what we do is in building relationships. Have conversations with other professionals inside and outside athletic training. The athletic training community is a caring community and tends to be connected like a family. You never know who can connect you to where you want to be or who has the advice or tool you have been looking for if you don’t start a conversation. Be around as many environments and professionals as possible. Take the things that work for your care, leave what doesn’t, and mold the other to what does work for you. There is so much out there, and some of it is amazing, and some of it is not — ask questions, but lean it into your foundation of education.
For me in this position, I had a small conversation on a sideline of a freezing snowy lacrosse jamboree with our current vice president, Heather Feiner, seven years ago and that brought me to the CATA board meeting after a simple yes to a conversation and now I have built relationships with amazing athletic trainers, physicians, mental health, and other healthcare professionals because of it.
