Andy Llaguno: Letter from the President

It’s an honor to have served as President of the RIATA. I have been fortunate to have been able to recruit young and excited members from our association to meet some of the challenges we have been confronted with especially over the last year. First, I would like to thank the entire RIATA Executive Board and “ALL” RIATA Committee Chairs that have been working so hard for our association. All these committee chairs took the challenge expanded their roles and responsibilities. I also want to welcome new committees and chairs – Rachel Millen & Katharine Boynton, RIATA/ATOM co-committee chairs and Tory Cooley, Young Professional RI State Committee chair. I would also like to welcome Jeff Nadeau from SSATC to our new president elect in July. This will open an opportunity to for a secondary school AT to take over for Jeff. And of course welcome Val Weber as our leader starting in July, 2016. Some accomplishments due to your hard work: We had our first statewide- secondary school and college/university AT summits. Then we updated our logo and hired a new webmaster. We were also successful to obtain a GAC grant. Applying for the GAC grant, we had to find and hire an accountant to obtain a 501c status and put our taxes and banking needs on the correct track. We were able to rally our members and were successful in defending our license. Once the RIATA obtained a grant, we moved very aggressively and hired a lobbyist. We created the h7639 bill to require an AT to be available at all secondary schools practices and games. It’s been a learning experience for all of us – going to a house committee meeting to discuss the bill and moving into March during AT awareness Month. The timing was strategically perfect! We created pamphlets, parent letters, posters, banners, even had promotional items such as RIATA chocolates and pens for the state house reps and members. We also created a tool kit on our website for the general public and members to use. In this tool kit there also is a petition to support our bill with 150 signatures just the first day alone. We had two TV news clips (channel 10 health clip and business clip) to gain support for the bill and bring more awareness for our profession. We also did advertising on the radio and local newspapers throughout the entire state and to top it off with buses with the NATA March tag line and info to support our bill. March 23rd, the RIATA Hit the Hill for the first time, we had two resolutions (one in the House and one in the Senate) that proclaimed March 23rd as Athletic Trainers Day in RI. We still have another bill that mirrors the house bill in the senate pending. This will require us to repeat the process. 2016 AT awareness has been extremely successful in the Ocean State! Sometime at the end of May and beginning of June, we will know if our bill will become law. RIATA went from almost becoming the first state to lose their license to being hopefully the first to have a law that requires all high schools to have an AT available for all practices and games. I am truly, excited for all of our members that helped fight the fight and became leaders in their communities to bring more awareness in our state – more so then ever before. It’s truly amazing to see what we can accomplish when we come together. I thank all of you for your support and hopefully we laid down a strong foundation for Val Weber to take over in July. See you at the RIATA/ATOM Conference in May. We’ll keep you posted with our bill as it moves to the senate. Sincerely, Andy Llaguno, President of the RIATA 2016 - H 7974 S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016 H O U S E R E S OL U T I O N PROCLAIMING MARCH 23 2016,

TO BE "ATHLETIC TRAINERS' DAY" INTHE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND Introduced By: Representatives Kazarian, Lancia, DeSimone, Naughton, and Amore Date Introduced: March 23, 2016 Referred To: House read and passed

WHEREAS, March of 2016 marks the National Athletic 1 Trainers' Association's 16th annual National Athletic Training Month; and 2 WHEREAS, Athletic Trainers are health care professionals who collaborate with 3 physicians and specialize in the prevention, emergency care, diagnosis, treatment and 4 rehabilitation of sports-related injuries and illnesses; and 5 WHEREAS, Athletic trainers have a long history of providing quality health care for 6 athletes and those engaged in physical activity based on specific tasks, knowledge, and skills 7 acquired through their education and training; and 8 WHEREAS, The National Athletic Trainers' Association represents and supports 43,000 9 members of the athletic training profession employed in the following settings: professional 10 sports, colleges and universities, high schools, clinics and hospitals, corporate and industrial 11 settings, and military branches; and 12 WHEREAS, Leading organizations concerned with athletic training and health care have 13 joined together in a common desire to raise public awareness on the importance of the athletic 14 training profession and to emphasize the importance of quality health care within the 15 aforementioned settings; and 16 WHEREAS, such an effort will improve health care for athletes and those engaged in 17 physical activity and promote athletic trainers as health professionals; now, therefore be it 18 RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

19 Providence Plantations hereby proclaims March 23, 2016, to be “Athletic Trainers’ Day” in the State of Rhode Island; and be it further 2 RESOLVED, that the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to 3 transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. Andy Llaguno, President of the 4 Rhode Island Athletic Trainers Association. 5 LC005559

Michelle Barber: Secretary/Treasurer-

Happy spring all! It is with great excitement to share with you that the RIATA has renewed its BOC certification status! We thank all those that attended our winter conference this past January & will look to provide more cost effective CEU’s to our members. Thank you to all that joined me and my family March 6th for the Athletic Training Month with the P-Bruins! My 2 year old son now has a new found love for Zambonis & continues to remind me that the players wear helmets so they don’t get “boo boo’s on their heads”. I look forward to creating many more memories with the P-Bruins and the RIATA. I sincerely thank you for allowing me to create such an event! At the end of February our account balance in the general account was $8700. Our funds this spring has focused on promotional materials during NATM – and promoting bill7639 Hope you have some time to get out and enjoy the weather!

Bryan Van Patten: Honors & Awards Committee- (on our website)

-RI Athletic Trainer of the Year

-RIATA Service Award

- D1 Kathleen Laquale, Professional Development Scholarship

-RIATA Hall of Fame

Helen Malone: Govt. Affairs Committee- Hit the Hill Rhode Island We have been busy busy busy here in government affairs. After receiving the grant from NATA GAC we were able to hire a lobbyist who we put right to work. Our lobbyist guided us to draft a bill for the state house mandating athletic trainers in all secondary schools in the state. Representative Kazarian from the House supported our draft quickly and bill H7639 was put in front of the health committee. Members from RIATA including Andy Llaguno, Val Webber, Kim Bissonette, George Finn, Helen Malone along with Dr. Tabbador and Tom Mezzanite from the RIIL were there to support our bill to the committee. The bill is still under review and we are waiting for next steps. On March 23 Rhode Island held it's first Hit the Hill Day with great success. Thirteen members came out to talk about our profession with legislators in the State House. We have recently heard the draft has been picked up support in the Senate and we will waiting for a hearing. Lastly March 23, 2016 has been deemed Athletic Trainer's Day in the state of Rhode Island by resolutions signed by the Senate and House of Representatives.

Lauren Harrall: Membership Committee

RIATA has total number of 150 members. There are 24 students and 126 Certified Athletic

Trainers. There are 6% in high schools, 41% college/university, and 53% other.

EATA Student Delegate: Dolci Wanger from Narr. RI, Soph. at Southern CT University Jeff Nadeau: Secondary Schools Committee-

Hi All,

We sure have had a busy end to the winter season! First off, we had a great NATAM. The

RIATA did a great job promoting Athletic Training and raising awareness of the need of ATs

rd in the secondary school setting. The Hit the Hill event on March 23 was also a great

success, a good number of SSATs came out to help raise awareness to the Representatives

and Senators of the state. We handed out flyers, RIATA pens and chocolates, Val and Andy

were interviewed by Channel 10. That day was also marked at Athletic Training Day in the state of RI as well. Andy, Val and I were introduced in front of the State Representatives

after the proclamation was read, it was exciting! Thanks to all who attended.

The SSAT Committee has expanded! The committee has added Calla Taft, Michael Lopes

and Kate Chaffee, they all come from Ortho RI and are excited to continue the hard work

we’ve been doing over the last couple of years. On a similar note, I have accepted to step in

for Val Webber as she becomes RIATA President and become the President-Elect beginning

in July. We will be in need of a new chair for the SSATC. Have a great spring!

Joshua King: College & University-

December of 2015, we had our first college/university summit. There was representation from all of the higher institutions in RI. This was the first of its kind in the county. Great dialogue and information sharing. In the future we would like to develop a more formal agenda; how it pertains to policy & procedures along with best practices and standard of care throughout the state. The more we come together, the strong voice we will have and this will help AT's in the traditional settings at any level. We hope to make this a biannual event (December / May) and hopefully Evolve to a CEU event with team physicians present. Keep you posted.

Louise Humphrey-Arruda: Licensing Committee-

If you are interested in being on the board please contact our board manager Alana

Rodriguez at [email protected] . We are still looking a physician and

an athletic trainer in the secondary school setting but all athletic trainers are

welcome to apply. Since our last meeting, there have been no new developments or

updates from the DOH.

The DOH will be sending out a memo to all Rhode Island colleges and universities so

employers are making sure their employees are current with their certification and licensure. This is something the DOH has done in the past and feels this is best

practice to ensure all athletic trainers working in RI are current with their required

documentation.

We will continue to sign off on licenses until the DOH tells us otherwise or an

agenda item is brought up during a meeting regarding changing our protocol.

Please let us know if there are any issues you would like to be put on our next

agenda. You can also send them directly to our board manager.

Rachel Millen & Katharine Boyton: RIATA/ATOM Co-Committee Chair -

Beginning this year, online registration and payment will be available for the conference. Information will be available on the ATOM website. This year’s conference will be Thursday, May 26th at Lasell College. The conference will return to Rhode Island in Spring 2017. Amanda Carsten: Public Relations Committee-

First I would like to thank Jeff and Andy for all their help with the newspaper, television, and radio

station coverage regarding House Bill 7639. We were able to get articles in local papers, a spot on turn to 10

Health Check, and even a banner on two RIPTA buses. Michelle was able to send in our coverage to the NATA

for the media contests that were held during National Athletic Training Month. At this time I am seeking

committee members to help with public relations in regards to Facebook, twitter, other social media’s if needed,

and press releases. Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] if you are interested in helping

on the committee or if you have any information that you would like published. I am always open for ideas and

suggestions.

Currently a spring gathering for members, family, and friends is in the planning stages for a trip to

Sakonnet Vineyards. Please keep an eye out for more information to come regarding this event.

Bobby Stachura: Announcements / Newsletter Committee- We will be doing a Fall and Spring Newsletter in the future. If you would like to share any personal news,

accomplishments, awards please forward them to me throughout the semester. RIATA wants to personalize the

Newsletter in the future with news from our members across the state. Please forward pictures as well throughout

the ocean state at your work setting to add to the website [email protected]

We would like to congratulate the following member on new family addition:

-Valerie Webber on a baby boy, Clinton Webber on 2/3/2016

Katharine Boynton: I have been awarded a mini-grant from the NFL and American Heart Association, to hold a public presentation regarding Youth Sports. I will be holding this presentation on May 5th at Mt. Hope High School for the parents/guardians of students who are interested in participating in sports. The presentation will cover concussions, cardiac arrest, nutritional snacks, prevention of overuse injuries and performing CPR. My goal is to reach as many parents/guardians of potential student athletes as possible to educate them on the benefits of sports as well as provide some helpful tips about nutrition, injuries and to teach them proper CPR.

Tori Cooley: Young Professionals-As far as the RIATA YPC: you all know that this is brand new!

I'm so happy and excited to be kicking off a committee where we can get our young members involved. My specific goals are to create a group of young professionals around that state that want and are eager to be involved and that desire a way to network amongst one another. I also would like to implement projects and initiatives to get and keep these professionals as active members, and develop plans to help the YPC be involved with legislative issues in both our state and nationally. Most importantly, my goal is to develop a well-run YPC in Rhode Island in order to engage young professionals who can represent our state, district and nation. Things are very much in the goal and planning process so if anyone has any input or suggestions, I gladly welcome them. Also, if anyone wants to be involved with the committee, shoot me an e-mail and we can discuss! The District 1 YPC is also being formed right now. We have a representative from each state and are just waiting to set a date in May for our first conference call. I will keep you updated to the outcomes of that conference.

Val Weber: President Elect-

Happy Spring! I hope everyone has had a great winter season and is getting ready for the warm weather! In July, I will be taking over presidency from Andy Llaguno. Jeff Nadeau will become the president-elect leaving the Secondary School Chair vacant. A brief job description will be sent out soon with further instructions. So if you think you may be interested, please look out for this in the near future. Also note sub-committee will be forming for Young Professional and Government Affairs, please let Victoria Cooley (Young Professional) and Helen Malone (Government Affairs) know if you are interested in these areas. Secondary Schools will be looking at hosting a Fall 2016 meeting. Date is TBD, so be on the lookout for meeting date and topic content. If you have a topic that you would like discussed please let Jeff or myself know.