President’s Monthly Update

August 1, 2006

Greetings!!!

I want to start off by apologizing for my tardiness in updating the membership thru out the summer. I have spent a great deal of time on some personal and professional issues and although that is no excuse, it is the only one I have. As we get into the school year I will try to do better.

These monthly reports are intended to help keep everyone informed of the things happening in Athletic Training in the State of West Virginia, in District # 3 (MAATA) and at the National level. It will generally be in bullet form to keep it concise.  If you have any questions about items in the report or anything that you would like to be passes on to the membership, please, contact me or any member of the Executive Council. I can be reached at rcable@fairmontstate.edu or by telephone at (304) 367-4273. This report will posted on the WVATA website and is intended to encourage the members of the WVATA to visit the website regularly as means of staying informed of items that are important to all of us.

·        On June 6^th Randy Meador (WVU), Jeromy Alt (WVU), Jenny Johnson (liaison to WV DC’s) and myself met with the Exectuive Board of the WV Chiropractors and their lobbyist.  We hope this is a start of a productive relationship for both groups.

·        Thank you to all members of the WVATA who attended the District 3 meeting in Virginia Beach, VA.  Because of the closeness of the annual NATA meeting the overall numbers were down.  The planning committee hopes they will rebound next year.  The 2007 annual NATA meeting will be held in Anaheim.

·        A special “Thank You” to John Spiker, PT, ATC; Richie Manrtin, PT, ATC; and Dr. Matt Livley, DO.  Their presentation at Virginia Beach was very well received and well attended.

·        There will be a vote to increase the District and State dues at the 2007 Virginia Beach meeting.  This is an “all or none” vote, meaning that all state must agree to the increase or it will not take place.  The increase will be $10.00; $8.00 will go to the state and $2.00 will go to the district.

·        The District is in the process of setting up a Student Senate.  This will be composed of 2 students from each state.  The students must be in an approved curriculum, a junior or senior, and willing to serve two terms.  Eventually, these students will be responsible for running the Student Program at the District Meeting.

·        For those of you who did not attend the annual meeting in Atlanta, you missed a great meeting.  The New Orleans disaster forced a number of individuals to do a lot of work in a short amount of time.  If you see or speak to any of those people, thank them.

·        Jeromy Alt will be leaving the state for a new position at the University of Cincinnati.  Jeromy has been an important part of the Executive Committee and a driving force in the planning of our yearly meetings.  He will be missed by WVU and the members of the WVATA.  If you have a chance, tell him so.

·        Our new lobbyist, Chris Marr, continues to work on our behalf in Charleston.  Hopefully, next year we can join the ranks of the states that have licensure.  For those of you that do not know, California, Florida, and Colorado have achieved licensure.  West Virginia is a target state for the NATA and will continue to help as long as we continue to help ourselves.

If there is any additional information that I have left out, I apologize. Please forward addition information to me and I will include it in my nest letter. In the mean time good luck to all as we start the year out, I hope everyone is successful and injury free  in the upcoming season.