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The Beginning of the Disconnect The National Athletic Trainers'​ Association is not failing you. But somewhere along the way, expectations changed. As athletic training pushed deeper into healthcare—degrees, licensure, legitimacy—many ATs started expecting NATA to function like something it was never designed to be: ➡️ A governing body ➡️ A protector ➡️ A fixer of day-to-day professional problems At the same time, the systemic problems got harder to manage: Burnout Compens

Athletic Trainers won’t love this take, but it’s worth saying. ATs didn’t originate as a traditional healthcare profession. We came out of the coaching model: a hybrid of coach and caretaker. The person who could “fix it” and get the athlete back in the game. That DNA still shows up today. So let’s play devil’s advocate for a second: If you removed the healthcare piece entirely—no diagnosis, no clinical authority, no liability—what is left? Because it starts to look a lot lik

When Opportunity Goes Sideways BREAKING: California Baptist University has eliminated men’s wrestling, golf, and swimming & diving — while leaving women’s programs untouched. For athletes like Cooper Shore, this isn’t abstract policy. It’s the second time he may be forced to transfer just to keep competing in the sport he loves. This is being framed as compliance with Title IX. But let’s be clear about the mechanism: Schools are under pressure to align athletic participation

The NIL era has changed more than recruiting, branding, and compensation… It’s changed risk. High school and collegiate athletes are no longer just participants—they are assets with real financial value tied to their name, image, and likeness. A missed diagnosis, delayed referral, or return-to-play decision doesn’t just impact health anymore… It can impact contracts, endorsements, and income potential. And that shifts the liability landscape for athletic trainers. Most ATs ca

Athletic trainers aren’t just part of the healthcare system… They expose what’s broken in it. No other healthcare provider is structurally embedded to deliver daily, longitudinal, real-time health monitoring in a performance population the way athletic trainers are. Meanwhile, most of healthcare still operates like this: Episodes of care Billing triggers (diagnosis → treatment) 10–15 minute interactions Reactive decision-making Treat the problem. Move on. Repeat. Athletic tra

Physician malpractice insurance and employment standards Only a small group of states explicitly require physicians to carry liability insurance to practice: Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin Meanwhile, states like Pennsylvania, New York, New Mexico, Indiana, Louisiana, Nebraska, and Wyoming tie malpractice coverage to participation in patient compensation funds or legal protections—creating indirect but very real pressure t

Why bad research matters in athletic training Podcast #639 Theo Von featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr., sparked an important conversation around how research is shared, filtered, and ultimately trusted by the public. Regardless of where you land on the perspectives in that episode, it points to something healthcare professionals should actually agree on: We don’t just have a “bad research” problem—we have a missing research problem. In athletic training and sports medicine, unsu

There’s a dangerous misconception in athletic training that needs to be addressed: Company liability insurance does NOT automatically protect the athletic trainer. Many ATs assume that because they’re working under a company, school, or organization, they’re personally covered if something goes wrong. That’s not always true. Here’s the reality: • Company policies are designed to protect the company first — not you as an individual clinician • Coverage may only apply within ve

Athletic trainers keep repeating the same worn out line: “We can’t move forward until we have third-party reimbursement.” But here’s the problem… 👉 That’s no longer is a valid complaint. 🧾 The Reality No One Talks About There are already states where athletic trainers are actively utilizing third-party reimbursement pathways, including: Indiana Wisconsin Vermont Missouri Georgia And beyond that… 👉 Most state practice acts already allow ATs to provide billable physical medi

At some point, risk stopped being something we learned to manage… and became something we tried to eliminate. If you listen to Mike Rowe, he talks about the “death of risk” in the workforce. But what if it’s already happening in athletic training education? We say we’re preparing healthcare professionals. But are we actually giving them space to make decisions… and be wrong? Because that’s where clinical judgment is built. ➡️ Not in perfect simulations ➡️ Not in controlled ch

When the Math Isn't Mathing - Bigger Questions About AT PRN Rates Are California’s Recommended PRN Rates Meant for ATs… or Companies? There’s been a lot of discussion around the California athletic training associations published recommended PRN rates. I have reached out to California Athletic Trainers' Association in the past to discuss how they computed these rates down to the different regions... Crickets On the surface, it’s a win: ➡️ More transparency ➡️ A benchmark fo

There’s a difference between leadership… and control. One of the fastest ways to create dysfunction in an organization is when leaders stop accepting critique. Not because the critique is wrong— But because it challenges their authority. And that’s where the power struggle begins. Instead of: • Listening → we get defensiveness • Problem-solving → we get posturing • Progress → we get protection of ego At that point, it’s no longer about doing what’s best for the organization.

High performers don’t just contribute. They expose things. They expose inefficiencies. They expose outdated systems. They expose gaps in leadership, communication, and structure. And while that’s incredibly valuable long-term—it can feel uncomfortable in the short term. Because now leadership is visible in a different way. A high-performing employee might: Solve problems faster than expected Question processes that “have always worked” Highlight inefficiencies others have wor

Identity vs. Authority “Hire people smarter than you.” It’s one of the most overused leadership phrases—and one of the least understood. Because in theory, it sounds like growth. In practice, it challenges identity. For many leaders, their value isn’t just tied to outcomes or results. It’s tied to being the most knowledgeable, most experienced, or most relied-upon person in the room. That’s what got them promoted. That’s what earned them credibility. So when someone comes in

Organizations Reward Control, Not Empowerment We say we want leaders who empower people. But if you look closely, most organizations don’t actually reward empowerment—they reward control. Think about what gets reinforced in day-to-day operations: Predictability Efficiency Risk reduction Staying within structure Now introduce a high performer into that system. They ask better questions. They move faster. They challenge inefficiencies. They don’t always wait for permission. And

Insecurity vs. Actual Leadership There’s a version of leadership we don’t talk about enough: Leadership driven by insecurity. Not insecurity in a dramatic sense—but the quiet kind: “Am I good enough to be here?” “What happens if someone exposes what I don’t know?” “What if they realize someone else could do this better?” Now bring a high-performing employee into that environment. Someone who executes faster. Thinks differently. Challenges the status quo. That’s where the inte

Struggling isn’t a flaw in the learning process. It is the learning process. Somewhere along the way, we started equating smooth = effective. If it feels easy, we assume we’re doing it right. But in reality… If it’s easy, you’re probably just repeating—not learning. Struggle is what forces adaptation. It exposes what you actually don’t understand It pushes you to problem-solve instead of memorize It creates retention because you had to work for the answer In athletic training

Promoted Without Being Taught to Lead Most leaders were never actually taught how to lead. They were promoted because they were good at their job. They were reliable. They were efficient. They knew how to execute. So they moved up. But here’s the problem: Execution and leadership are completely different skillsets. Being great at doing the work doesn’t automatically translate to: developing people delegating effectively managing high performers sharing ownership of outcomes S

Failing fast isn’t about being reckless. It’s about shortening the feedback loop before failure becomes expensive, public, irreversible, and possibly harmful. “Fail fast” means something different depending on where you sit. In healthcare, business, and leadership—we say it all the time. But we rarely define what it actually looks like in practice. Because failing fast isn’t one thing… It’s context-dependent decision-making. Clinically: Failing fast is about recognizing when

Athletic trainers are trained as generalists… But expected to perform like specialists. From day one, our education (guided by the CAATE - Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education and credentialed through the Board of Certification for the Athletic Trainer) prepares us to manage: Orthopedic injuries Emergency care Rehabilitation Behavioral health Pharmacology Administration We are one of the most broadly trained healthcare professionals in the system. Yet th

Everyone knows the iron triangle of business: Fast. Cheap. High Quality. — Pick two. In athletic training, we don’t just work inside this triangle…we’re often expected to be all three. The Reality in Athletic Training • FAST → Immediate evaluations, same-day return-to-play decisions, constant availability • CHEAP → Tight school budgets, low PRN rates, “coverage” seen as an expense • HIGH QUALITY → Evidence-based care, risk management, athlete safety, documentation Individuall

Questions Athletic Trainers Should Ask Before Working PRN Most PRN/event athletic trainers are taught clinical skills… but not operational protection Protect your: ✅ license ✅ liability ✅ time ✅ compensation ✅ sanity Scope of Services What services are ACTUALLY expected? Emergency response Injury evaluation Prophylactic taping Stretching/manual treatments Rehab recommendations Recovery equipment Hydration monitoring Performance recommendations Medication dispensing Avoid “sco

California gets a LOT of criticism for not pursuing full athletic training licensure sooner. But the bigger national conversation is this: Not every state operates under the same “industry standard” structure. ▪️ CA = registration/title protection ▪️ HI= registration model ▪️TX = LAT & BOC/ATC tracks ▪️CO = registration model (2021) So while CA became the public example of “lack of standardization,” the reality is the profession still has multiple regulatory identities nation

As athletic training becomes more mobile through PRN staffing, event medicine, telehealth, and the interstate compact, there’s a conversation the profession may not be fully prepared for yet: 👉 Taxes, payroll, and multi-state compliance. For years, many athletic trainers worked primarily: ➡️ locally ➡️within one school district ➡️one clinic ➡️one hospital system ➡️or one state But the profession is changing and evolving. Now many ATs are: ✅traveling for tournaments ✅covering