Jan 29, 2015That Time of Year
With the arrival of summer, association conventions and annual meetings are in full swing for the sports medicine, performance training, and nutrition industries. T&C recaps some of the highlights from a recently completed meeting and previews several upcoming conventions with a look at keynote speakers as well as symposium and lecture topics.
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The third annual Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association (CPSDA) conference and clinical symposium recently wrapped up in Scottsdale, Ariz., May 25. Tom Osborne, who is currently the Athletic Director at the University of Nebraska and was previously the school’s Head Football Coach and a United States Congressman, delivered the keynote address.
Some of the other highlights included a presentation from Gary Greene, MD, on behalf of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, on the advances in drug use and doping among athletes, as well as a panel discussion between CPSDA student members and veteran dietitians on the evolution of sport dietetics.
Several speakers at the event addressed overall athlete health and wellness. T&C contributor Michelle Rockwell, MS, RD, CSSD, addressed the prevention and treatment of stress fractures in college and professional athletes. Josh Hingst, MS, RD, SCCC, CSCS, of the University of Nebraska discussed nutrition strategies for football. And highlighting a growing concern for athletes facing dietary restrictions, Gale Welter, MS, RD, CSSD, CSCS, spoke on the challenges athletes with lactose and gluten intolerances face.
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The American College of Sports Medicine is hosting its 58th Annual Meeting & second World Congress on Exercise is Medicine in Denver, Colo., from May 31 to June 4. The meeting brings in leading experts in health and nutrition from around the globe. The Athlete Care and Clinical Medicine portion of the meeting will highlight a multitude of issues, including a lecture from Nikki Wilson Crary, Jackson Lewis, LLP, and Temerah Hunt at Ohio State on the medical and legal ramifications of concussive injuries.
The World Congress keynote speaker is Karim Kahn, FACSM, of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Drawing from popular culture, Kahn’s lecture is titled “Supersize my Exercise! Learning from Mad Men, the Marlboro Man and Freakonomics to Promote Physical Exercise.”
Michael Pratt, FACSM, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is presenting on a global perspective regarding the effectiveness of physical activity, while several speakers will host talks on the occurrence of overuse and underuse injuries in children. Athletic trainers can earn up to 28.5 CEU credits for attending the meeting.
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The 62nd annual meeting of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association takes place in New Orleans from June 19 to 22. Attendees can earn 24 CEU credits for attending all three days of events, as well as additional credits for attending advanced track seminars, minicourses, and career development workshops. The meeting will also include a Hall of Fame induction ceremony on June 21.
The presentations will be divided up to cover six different athletic training “domains,” including prevention; clinical evaluation and diagnosis; immediate care; treatment, rehabilitation, and reconditioning; organization and administration; and professional responsibility. One major topic of discussion in the prevention domain is helmet safety, and there will be several presentations discussing the use of helmets in football, lacrosse, and hockey.
Topics of discussion won’t be limited to on-the-field issues, however. Randy Cohen, PT, ATC, from the University of Arizona and David Weir, LAT, ATC, of Texas A&M University will host a peer-to-peer discussion on counseling issues and services at the collegiate level.
Athletic trainers as the NATA meeting will also be able to learn about ways to protect themselves from legal liability, as there will be a moderated discussion on “The Athletic Trainer and the Law,” which will include insight from a pair of lawyers. There will also be opportunities to learn about specific career paths that are available to athletic trainers in both the industrial and the traditional setting in a breakout session headed by Sarah Kees of the Select Medical Corporation.
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Bobby Bowden, former Head Football Coach at Florida State University, will be the keynote speaker at the National Strength and Conditioning Association annual meeting from July 6 to 9. Some of the meeting highlights will include a lecture from Kevin Vanderbrush, MS, CSCS*D, on implementing a strength and conditioning program at the high school level, with a focus on motivating athletes to get out of their comfort zone. Vanderbrush has been the strength and conditioning coach at Davis High School in Indianapolis for the past 26 years.
Matt Rhea, PhD, CSCS*D, will present on the viability of a growing trend: the use of vibration training in conditioning athletes, with a focus on implementing it in strength, power, and flexibility programs. Several of the sessions on July 8 will provide hands-on instruction, including a demonstration of ways to improve an athlete’s foot and hand speed through the use of battling ropes and speed ladders as well as an overview and demonstration of the fundamentals of kettlebell training.
Athlete nutrition will also be discussed, as T&C contributor Susan Kundrat, MS, RD, CSSD, LDN, Sports Dietitian at the University of Illinois, and Dan Bernadot, PhD, will lecture on the importance of helping athletes properly time their energy intake for maximum performance.
Patrick Bohn is an Assistant Editor at Training & Conditioning.
