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This issue of The First Aider focuses on women in athletic training. Although today half of the entire NATA membership is female, there were no female members until 1966. But the April 1963 First Aider highlighted the growing importance of women in the training room and is among the first documented references foreshadowing the future of women in the profession.
Many women were athletic training pioneers, and as their numbers grew over the years they made a huge impact on the profession. The NATA's Women in Athletic Training Committee has compiled an impressive list of milestones achieved over the years by women in athletic training (found in the members-only section of the NATA Website), and we thank that committee for allowing us to take some excerpts from their list!
The organization that eventually became the NATA was founded in 1950, and the first female members joined in 1966--when Dorothy "Dot" Cohen and Sherry (Kosek) Babagian.
In 1972, there were nearly 20 female NATA members, and the NATA board of directors voted to include a special column for female athletic trainers in the NATA Journal. That same year, Cramer Products launched The First Aider for Women, an addendum to The First Aider.
In 1973, the NATA board appointed an Ad Hoc Committee on Women in Athletic Training to "identify the needs of women trainers and make recommendations on how the NATA can provide for the advancement of women in athletic training." Thirteen women joined NATA that year.
By 1974, there were 24 NATA-approved undergraduate programs accepting women. Holly Wilson wrote Workbook: Fundamentals of Athletic Training for Women that year, and records show there were approximately 16 female certified athletic trainers.
In 1975, 57 women joined the NATA. The following year, the NATA Journal discontinued its for-women-only column. An estimated 318 women were enrolled in 50 NATA-approved programs, and 60 women had achieved certification. Records show that 88 women joined the NATA during 1977.
Janice Daniels became the first woman elected to the NATA board in 1984. In 1991, Julie Max was the second woman elected to the NATA board, and the first woman appointed as vice president of the board.
Eve Becker Doyle was named the first female NATA executive director, in 1992. In 1995, the NATA board formed the Women in Athletic Training task force. In June of 1995, the NATA posthumously named Gail Weldon as the first woman in the NATA Hall of Fame.
By 1996, women represented 44 percent of the NATA membership and held 26 percent of the NATA's board, committee, and liaison positions. That year, the board voted to make the Women in Athletic Training Task Force a standing committee.
Julie Max was elected the first female president of NATA in 2000. That same year, the NATA Salary Data Survey showed that the national average salary of female athletic trainers was $38,780, and for men it was $48,538.
At the 2002 NATA national symposium (its 52nd), 102 women received 25-year service awards.
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