Fall 2024 eNewsletter

This eNewsletter is published by the Far West Athletic Trainers’ Association for its members. For information contained in this newsletter or to submit articles/ideas, please contact the FWATA Newsletter Editor and District 8 Secretary, Ruem Malasarn, MS, ATC at secretary@fwatad8.org

District Director’s Message

Cindy Clivio, MEd, ATC

Happy Holiday season FWATA!

I wrote a letter to our membership regarding the restructuring of the NATA operations. If you did not receive this, please check your SPAM/ junk folders and if you don’t find it there please contact me and I will send it to you. If you have questions about the restructuring, please contact me.

This newsletter contains information from our Board and Committee chairs. We are very excited to have several new Chairs joining us for the 2024-25 year. Please take a moment to read through their submissions. They are choosing to serve—for YOU! Several are looking for new or more committee members. There are many volunteer opportunities available within our district and within the NATA. Please consider contributing to the future of our profession, make your voice heard, advocate for your fellow athletic trainers by volunteering. Whether it is one day event, a state or district committee role, or running for elected office I can attest you will make a difference!

Something you will hear from me and will be seeing often in NATA messaging is “you asked—we listened”. The NATA Board of Directors and staff are listening to members and being proactive in what you express that you want. We are acknowledging that you have been heard and valued. We are also creating more opportunities for member feedback. Something that was released with the member communications on restructuring is NATA is Listening | NATA Forms. This is a google form you fill out and make comments, requests or ask questions.

One of the top items in our NATA strategic plan is enhancing and better communicating member value. We have made the entire learning management system on the EducATe platform available for free to all members who renew for 2025. It has 225 hours of continuing education. One of the new programs we have rolled out is called Member Perks. We have several members only benefits that you can take advantage of including rental car discounts, the IDme program which has a multitude of discounts.

NATA Member Perks Program | NATA

As we look forward to 2025 please consider joining us at AMCS at a new location in Las Vegas in April. Please see the AMCS committee post for details. Additionally, PLEASE consider nominating a colleague for our FWATA Honors and Awards. Please see their post for details on the process. We have so many deserving members who deserve recognition.
Lastly STUDENTS—who doesn’t need FREE MONEY? please submit an application for NATA and FWATA scholarships.

If anyone has questions, comments, complaints and even compliments please feel free to contact me director@newsletter.fwatad8.org

NATA Member Perks Program | NATA

From the District Secretary

Ruem Malasarn, MS, ATC

Time to renew your NATA Membership! Your NATA membership now includes enhanced access to the entire NATA EducATe On-Demand Course Catalog. With 150-plus courses covering various disciplines you encounter daily in your practice, that’s more than 225 CEUs/hours of content now accessible with your membership! And there are many more benefits to membership to come! For more information, go to: https://www.nata.org/benefits-nata-membership.

We are also excited to announce the transition of FWATA in the Google workspace. This will allow our leadership to better serve you with resources such as video conferencing, integrated apps, the ability to collaborate in real time, along with security features like two-step authentication. 

Managing board members and FWATA Committee Chairs also now have district emails that will transition with the role, which will improve continuity, access, and transfer of information.

District Treasurer Message

Garvin Tsuji, MS, ATC

FWATA is currently in a financially stable position with reserves to cover any shortfalls. Thank you to all the Committees for being fiscally responsible for the membership.

Annual Meeting Committee

Ginger Lei Ehrke, LAT, ATC

The upcoming 2025 FWATA AMCS will be held on April 16-19, 2025 (Wed-Sat), located in Las Vegas, Nevada at NEW venue, the South Point Hotel & Casino. 

Attendees can earn up to 20 CEUs (included with registration) and an additional 6 CEUs (for an additional fee).  Our Education Program Sub-Committee has been working hard to assemble outstanding sessions for our attendees.  

Early Registration Rates will be available February 2025:

• Professional – NATA Member $260  / Non-Member $525
• Student – Member $150 / Non-Member $ 275

The South Point Hotel & Casino offers great room rates, free parking, free airport shuttle for hotel guests, complimentary wifi in guest rooms and convention area, pool and spa, family friendly options (including bowling, arcade, and cinema), a wide variety of on-property and nearby off-property dining options, and more!  FWATA Room Rates: $85/night (Sun. 4/13 – Wed. 4/16, and Sat. 4/19) and $170/night (Thu. 4/17 – Fri. 4/18).  

Please continue to check the FWATA AMCS website or the FWATA Instagram (@fwatad8) for updates and additional information.  

Here is some information to help you plan ahead:

• Available in December:
  • Preliminary Education Program
  • FWATA Hotel Room Block reservation information
• Available in January:
  • FWATA Scholarship Golf Tournament Information
• Available in February
  • Early Bird Registration Rates
  • FWATA Golf Tournament Registration

We are looking forward to another year to network with our FWATA colleagues and friends and out-of-district attendees!  We hope to see you in Las Vegas!

Interested in being a Sponsor?  Please contact Ginger Ehrke at amcs@newsletter.fwatad8.org

Interested in being an Exhibitor?  Please contact Leroy Heu at Leroy.Heu@athletics.ucsb.edu

Lost CEU certificate?  Please contact Sanam Rezazadeh at amcs_registration@newsletter.fwatad8.org

Honors & Awards Committee

Todd Hamburg, ATC

Nomination season is upon us.  Please take a minute to nominate your peers for our district awards.  You can nominate someone for Special Service award, Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award, Hall of Fame Award, and the Bill Chambers Lifetime Achievement Award.

Please visit the website for more information on each award.  You will also find a direct link to the nomination form.

We chose to work in this profession not for the accolades, and we should take time to recognize one another.  This is the greatest way to allow your peers to be recognized.

Deadline for Nominations is January 15.

Scholarships Committee

Mark D’Anza, MEd, LAT, ATC

The FWATA Scholarship Committee would like to thank Brenda Valdez Nava for her service as the chair of the committee for the past four years.  Mark D’Anza has taken on the role of chair of the committee and is looking forward to application season.  

Applications for FWATA scholarships will be accepted from January 15 – February 28, 2025.  Please pass this information on to students you may work with.  If you are a student, start to think about who you will ask for your letters of recommendation.  More details will be available and shared with the program directors in the near future.

Student Leadership Committee

Nicole Briseno

The Student Leadership Committee’s 2025-2026 applications are open until December 31st. The student leadership committee works to connect athletic training students from programs throughout District 8 to collaborate with each other. The committee provides information via social media to athletic training students throughout district 8. The committee allows the students to coordinate the student networking event  and the speaker selection for the student presentations at the Annual Meeting and Clinical Symposium.

Research and Grants Committee

Kara Radzak, PhD, LAT, ATC

We are now accepting abstract submissions for the 2025 Free Communications Program! Our FWATA Free Communications program follows the same guidelines as the NATA Free Communications program. However, we do not accept Critically Appraised Topics. Abstracts are due March 1st, 2025. More information can be found here. Don’t forget about our monetary prizes awarded, including the Clinical Outcome Based Research Award (COBRA) which is intended to encourage clinician-based research in District 8 through the dissemination of Level 1-4 clinical case reports. 

Our research grants program is also open, with a due date of April 1st, 2025. More information on the grant application process can be found on our committee page of the FWATA website. Questions regarding either the free communications program or the grants program can be directed to kara.radzak@unlv.edu

Ethnic Diversity Advisory Committee

Alejandra Merriman, DAT, ATC, NASM-CES

This past summer, FWATA EDAC partnered with CATA region 3 and the Celebration Nation Organization to provide first aid, CPR, AED, and emergency preparedness training concerning environmental illness to farm workers and their supervisors from Monterey County. Thank you to PRIDE Sports Medicine, region 3 Director Suzy Ghattas, and our volunteers for your time and dedication, we look forward to this event again next year.

Early Professionals Committee

Breyonne Williams, ATC

Career Advancement Committee

Christina Scutti, ATC

We Want You! Looking for individuals in year 7-12 of certification who want to volunteer and be a part of this committee!

“The Career Advancement Committee (CAC) was created to address issues affecting athletic trainers as they advance in their careers from early professionals. The committee focuses on work-life balance, career satisfaction, career growth and professional retention.”

I am hoping to get members involved to help get this committee going so we can make an impact in our district! I would love at least one representative from each state. Please reach out to me if you are interested at fwatacac@gmail.com

Secondary Schools Committee

Marissa Fukunaga, ATC

There are two NATA Secondary School Athletic Trainers’ Committee awards that have upcoming nomination deadlines: 

• The Secondary School Athletic Trainer of the Year Award nomination period ends on December 31st. This award recognizes deserving athletic trainers in secondary schools across the country. Specifically, this award recognizes eleven district winners and one overall national winner. More information about this award can be found at: https://www.nata.org/membership/honors-and-awards/ss-athletic-trainer-of-the-year
• The Servant’s Heart Award nomination period ends on November 30th. This award recognizes deserving secondary school ATs in each district for their service to the athletic training profession, their schools and their communities. More information about this award can be found at: https://www.nata.org/membership/honors-and-awards/servants-heart-award

Please nominate a deserving secondary school athletic trainer for these awards!

Secondary School Athletic Trainers: A Data-Centric Overview of Job Satisfaction and Strategies for Risk Reduction, Recruitment, and Retention is a recently published white paper from the NATA SSATC. The target audience of this document is administrators and those that hire athletic trainers. More detailed information on how the information from this white paper can help ATs in our district is forthcoming. The white paper can be found at: https://www.nata.org/sites/default/files/nata_ssatc_white_paper.pdf

Lastly, if there are any initiatives you would like our committee to be a part of, please do not hesitate to reach out. We also have access to many resources that may help athletic trainers specifically in the secondary school setting.

LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee

Tina Tubbs, ATC

Welcome Tina Tubbs! Tina was just selected as our new FWATA Chair. Look for information from this committee in future communications.

Governmental Affairs Committee

Jamie Adams MEd, ATC, CES

2024 has been a good year for the District 8 Governmental Affairs teams!  

California has passed it’s first bill regulating the profession and will look to build on this momentum in the upcoming years.  

Nevada is working hard to keep it’s members in a good position within the legislature.  They were able to lower their licensure dues this year which is unheard of in this economy! They are still looking for interested members to join their GAC.  Please reach out to NVATA President for more information.

Hawaii is continuing to build and maintain their relationships with the state legislators.  They continue to advocate for and support the athletic training ohana.

As always have a wonderful holiday season and please reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns.

State Updates

California Update

Dr. Ky E. Kugler, ATC | CATA President

California passed its first athletic training regulatory bill (AB 796). The bill provides title protection for California athletic trainers. A huge thank you to the CATA GAC members past and present who have worked tirelessly to reach this milestone. We would also like to thank all of our members who have dedicated their time to this effort; whether through joining a Hit the Hill day, meeting with your legislator in their home office or writing a letter of support. It all made a difference. Thank you!

Please see this infographic for more information regarding the bill.

Hawaii Update

Amy Shirk, MS, ATC | District 8 Representative

Aloha From Hawaii!

Our Fall High School seasons are wrapping up and winter sports are getting ready to go.  Congratulations to the already crowned state champions from the fall season and good luck to those still competing.

Our state association (HATA) has some exciting events planned this year. We are happy to announce the 2025 Hawaii Sports Medicine Summit taking place on June 13-14 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa Campus Center Ballroom. CEU and prices are pending, so stay tuned! See the Save the Date!

In other CEU opportunity news, The Neuro Huddle is coming to Oahu!  The Neuro Huddle: The Emerging Science in Sports-Related Concussion Management Conference on January 18-19. Space is limited, so please register ASAP to reserve your seat (see attached graphic to register).

Our State AT’s love to get involved.  Oahu Athletic Trainers have been regularly volunteering at the He’eia Fishpond helping with cleanup and restoration.  This has been one of the favorite activities during National Athletic Training Month. 

For those looking to lend a hand with their AT skill set, HATA is looking for volunteers at this year’s Honolulu Marathon on December 8th.  Please see the posting on hawaiiata.org for more information.

As the year winds down, we will be transitioning our new state board members into their leadership roles.  Nikki Awaya will continue with a second term as president, as will Amy Shirk as the state representative to the district, while Liana Finer will be stepping into our Vice President role, Lawrence Lam at Secretary and Marissa Fukunaga at Treasurer.  We send a big Mahalo to Alika AhSing and Sienna Handegard who will be finishing the year in their roles as VP and Treasurer respectively.

Finally, we wish to bid a heartfelt “A Hui Hou” and “Mahalo” to Dan Renteria, who retied from serving as a high school athletic trainer after almost 30 years at both DOE and private schools as well as at UH-Hilo, all on the Big Island.  Enjoy your retirement, Dan!

Nevada Update

Brittany Backofen, ATC | NEVATA President

The Nevada ATA Annual Meeting and Clinical Symposium will be held on Saturday, May 31st, in Las Vegas. If you enjoy FWATA AMCS in Las Vegas, we’d love to have you back for another weekend.

The NevATA executive board would like to welcome Erinn Zubillaga as our newest board member. She was elected as our Northern Nevada Representative. Thank you so much for your willingness to serve.

Nevada is gearing up for the upcoming legislative session. We will keep members posted about any action needed to support our legislative goals.

NATA Updates

NATA Research & Education Foundation

District 8 Representatives
Ky Kugler, EdD, ATC
Sam Lee, ATC

Scholarship Applications Now Open!

The NATA Foundation is now accepting applications for its 2025 Scholarship Program through January 15. The Scholarship Committee manages this program, awarding scholarships at both the Professional and Post-Professional levels. Each year, between 50 and 75 scholarships are granted, with each award currently set at $2,300. Don’t miss this opportunity!  LEARN MORE. 

Student Writing Contest Sponsored by GLATA

Showcase your writing skills in the 2025 NATA Foundation Athletic Training Student Writing Contest.  Named in honor of Deloss Brubaker, who chaired the contest for its first 30 years, this competition offers a total of $1,000 in prizes across three categories: Original Research ($500), Summary Evidence Research ($250), and Clinical Practice Research ($250). Start planning your submissions now—it’s a great opportunity to contribute to the athletic training community and earn recognition and prize money. LEARN MORE.

NATA Political Action Committee

VACANT | District 8 Representative

NATA PAC is looking for a District 8 representative. Interested candidates are asked to send letter of interest and CV/Resume directly to Cindy Clivio, FWATA District Director

NATAPAC, a political action committee connected to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, is a federal group that provides campaign contributions to approved candidates on behalf of NATA. NATAPAC will give primarily to candidates for the United States Senate or United States House of Representatives. It is a nonpartisan group.