Jan 29, 2015

March is the Month

March is National Athletic Training Month and across the country, schools and clinics are celebrating the profession and working to spread the NATA’s message that “Every Body Needs an Athletic Trainer.” Check out how some of your colleagues are celebrating this important month.

At Central College, an NCAA Division III school in Pella, Iowa, the athletic training staff has been working hard to drum up awareness for the profession in the surrounding communities and promote the need for athletic trainers in all high schools. In February, Central Head Athletic Trainer Frank Neu and Assistant Athletic Trainer Dustin Briggs, along with 30 of the school’s athletic training students, visited a Pella City Council meeting where they watched Pella Mayor James Mueller sign a proclamation declaring March to National Athletic Training Month in Pella.

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For University of Montana athletic training students, National Athletic Training Month is time to get the word out. Each year undergraduate students are charged with finding ways to promote the profession.

“Students go out to high schools to speak about the importance of athletic training, make posters that are put up around campus and create radio PSAs,” Kara Wesen, an athletic training student at the school told montanakaimin.com. “The goal is to not only educate the public about what we do, but our friends, family and the athletes we treat as well.”

“It’s important to make the distinction that we’re more than a personal trainer or manager,” Wesen added. “We are medical professionals and we deserve that recognition.”

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Midwest-based Athletico Physical Therapy is celebrating the work of athletic trainers through various initiatives. One way Athletico–which employs more than 170 athletic trainers in 80 high schools and colleges throughout Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana–is working to spread the “Every Body Needs an Athletic Trainer” message through its Facebook page by asking people to post photos of professional athletes, student-athletes, staff, and others associated with athletic training holding the National Athletic Training Month banner. Athletico will then ask followers to vote for the best submitted photo.

Share your favorite athletic training stories, photos, and videos or tell us about an athletic trainer who has left a positive mark on your career by e-mailing us at: [email protected].