Women in Athletic Training acknowledges women and men are not the same; however, that does not mean one is less than the other. Come celebrate with this awesome group as they are growing healthy relationships to grow our profession.

What’s new with WAT? 

* Since the last time we were on the SMB a ton has happened - specifically in the area of intentionality and forward direction. * We launched our re-brand of WAT 2.0 on 1/1/2020 and that for us signified a HUGE shift both in who we were and where we were going. We started the process in September of 2019 and used the last 4 months of 2019 really collaborating and digging deep into who we (the revitalized WAT board) wanted to be and where we wanted to take WAT. * That leads us to the creation of a formal mission, vision, and our credo that WAT is more than AVERAGE (insert visuals here) standing for authenticity, virtue, empowerment, respect, advocacy, growth, and elevATion. * We moved what was a place for all women AT to just come and ‘be’ to a true resource. A safe space for the women in this profession to empower one another. * It was through this re-launch that we saw a huge shift in the way our membership interacted with the group - in a hugely positive way. We also were sure to come into the process using the evidence-based models and surveys out then 7800 members. This year when we started 2021 we did the same thing to evaluate our model. * We are super proud that we just hit 9000 members, have 9 board members, we were the 1st group to offer a virtual interview of the then-candidates for NATA presidency, have hosted multiple call-in sessions for professional development around covid, interviews with NATA LGBTQ, EDAC, and more.  

What are y’all working on now?

* At the end of each year, we put out a survey for our members to complete for the Women in AT board to review and re-assess the needs of what our members are wanting from us. We all completed passion roadmaps which is a resource that we utilize from Passion Planner (Megan loves Passion Planner) that allows us to each individually brainstorm the goals that we foresee for WAT over a time period of 3 months, 1 year, 3 years, and a lifetime. * We work together to review the survey answers to plan and create a quarterly outline for Women in AT to help us take small steps to reaching our larger goals for WAT while also catering to the needs that our members requested of us. * This past year the survey revealed that the top two needs that the members would like for us to provide are networking opportunities and educational content. This is something we are working hard to provide for our members. * This month as NATM’s theme is AT’s are Healthcare, we want to shed more light on the emerging settings of athletic training. This month will include some roundtable discussions from multiple settings, some social opportunities, and an interview with a professor who teaches negotiation tactics. We are all very passionate about athletic training and the future for WAT, and are excited to see how it all evolves. 

What are two key issues y’all are working to improve for women in athletic training?

Showing up for each other in an authentic, empowering way. For too long women in this profession (and in general) are forced into competitive environments that pit one against another. We aim to change that. We should be building each other up, and working together as athletic training professionals. Empowering each other forward. Not holding each other back.  

What is the vision for the next 5-10 years?

To infinity and beyond :-) no but in all seriousness, we have big dreams and no intention of slowing down.