The NATA “Capitol Hill Day” will be held on Tuesday, March11, 2014 in Washington D.C. The 5th National Youth Sports Safety Summit Governmental Affairs Committee will meet in conjunction with this event. This is a great opportunity for members to gain experience in the efforts made in the legislative affairs area on behalf of the Athletic Training Profession.
If you plan to attend this event you must register on the NATA website by February 6, so plans can be made for those athletic trainers who will attend. Members in attendance will be scheduled to meet with their Congressmen and Senators who represents them. These meetings are organized in small groups pairing new attendees with members who have attended in previous years from each state and legislative district.
Last year during the NATA “Capitol Hill Day”, House Resolution 72 was rolled-out to Congress in support of the Youth Sports Safety Summit sponsored by the NATA. This bill is an advocacy bill for the Secondary School Student Athletes’ Bill of Rights. This document was developed in collaboration with the members of the Youth Sports Safety Alliance, which has more than 100 member health-care organizations and advocacy groups’, to support sports safety issues. The second initiative, supported by the NATA, is introducing the Promoting Health as Youth Skills in Classrooms and Life (PHYSICAL) Act by Senator Udall of New Mexico. This bill adds physical education and health education back to the required core curriculum in secondary schools. There is also a proposal presented in the meetings by the NATA members for Congress to support language to create a national data base of youth athlete’s fatalities by the Center for Disease Control.
These initiatives make for very positive meetings with each athletic trainer’s members of congress and their staffs bringing attention to the need of athletic trainer services being made available for all secondary school sports students. I would encourage all athletic trainers to consider this opportunity to experience the importance advocacy of our profession at the federal and state level.
So you can't make it to Washington D.C.?
Go to the NATA’s Federal Governmental Affairs webpage. From here you can:
- Learn about how Health Care Reform affects athletic trainers
- Become a Grasstop!
- Discover and get involved with the NATA Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation project
- Find your official
- Check key bills that the NATA is tracking
- Join the mailing list and receive an alert when your involvement can make a critical difference
- MegaVote! Get your representative’s votes by email weekly
- Tell-A-Friend! Send a note directly from the website to a friend to let them know about this site!
- Install Web Widget! Put the "Write to Congress" web sticker on YOUR web site!
Have you ever wanted to obtain a government Proclamation for your workplace? Log into the SWATA members only website and download the SWATA PR Idea Book. Pages 32-34 of the SWATA PR Idea Book provides step-by-step directions on how to obtain a local and state government Proclamation! The SWATA PR Idea book has a gold mine of examples and instructions on how to be involved in promoting the profession.
Also, don't forget the National Athletic Training Month is in March! Check back at the SWATA Blog for more information!
This blog entry was provided by:
Dennis Hart and Jamie Woodall
Dennis Hart works as a Clinical Services Director/Athletic Trainer at Sports Medicine Clinic of North Texas and serves on the NATA Governmental Affairs Committee. Jamie Woodall works as an athletic trainer at Rudder High School; Bryan ISD and serves on the NATA Public Relations Committee
