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NATA Public Relations Recap for July

FR:          Robin Waxenberg & Associates

As the country faces record-breaking heat waves and risk of exertional heat illness among physically active individuals and athletes, NATA has distributed vital information on heat illness prevention and treatment to provide media with appropriate acclimatization and general background. We’ve also continued to spearhead several media platforms including back-to-school sports safety, World Cup soccer tips for athletes of all ages, sustained interest in post-annual meeting news and timely trade and legislative efforts. Results have included USA Today, Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal to name a few and details are included below:

Total audience reach for July: 37,284,824

1.  NATA Annual Meeting
As follow up to the NATA press event on Safe Weight Loss Maintenance Practices in Sports and Exercise, weight loss practices and maintenance in sports and exercise, we completed select local radio interviews during the month of July (including local KSLU-Public Radio International and its Point of View show on July 20, audience reach: 75,000). Lead author of the statement, Paula Turocy, has also written a bylined article for an upcoming Advance for Physical Therapy and Rehab Medicine issue and is writing another article for the December/January issue of the PTA Our Children magazine. 

Sirius Satellite Radio, Thursday, June 24

Katie Walsh was interviewed on the ER Show live on Thursday morning, June 24, re: emerging lightning position statement.

2. Advance for Physical Therapy and Rehab Medicine

·         We are working with Advance and editor Jon Bassett on several potential bylined article topics for the coming year including: the noncompliant patient (bylined by Kathy Dieringer and slated for an upcoming issue), safe weight loss and maintenance, quick fix nutritional benefits, the industrial athlete, sports psychology, sudden cardiac arrest, youth sports safety, lightning and functional movement screenings.

3. Heat Prevention & Treatment Press Release Distribution

We redistributed the NATA heat release (as originally issued during NATM) two times since March and in tandem with heat waves this spring and summer. The following stories ran as a result of that initial communication and ongoing media dialogue and inquiries:

USA Today, July 11, 2011

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/fitness-food/exercise/story/2011/07/Go-easy-on-your-workout-as-the-weather-heats-up/49291330/1

USA Today, August 5, 2011

USA Today Viewpoint: Two-A-Day Practices Still Exist – Why?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2011-08-04-two-a-day-football-practice-heat_n.htm

Another View: Football in the Heat: Play Smart – written by John McKissick, head football coach and athletic director at Summerville (SC) High School

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2011-08-04-football-heat-practice-smart-mckissick_n.htm

We are also working with sports reporter Erik Brady on a heat illness cover story tied to the 10^th anniversary of Korey Stringer passing away and advances in prevention and treatment set to run mid-August.

PBSNewsHour.com, July 29, 2011, “Heat Advisory: When Exercise Could Be Bad For Your Health”

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/07/as-a-heat-wave-continues.html

Associated Press story on USAToday.com, August 1, 2011, “Texas football players, marching bands feeling the heat”

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/football/2011-08-01-texas-teams-take-on-the-heat_n.htm

Yahoo Sports, August 3, 2011, “Experts: Heat deaths are preventable”

http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1247224

FoxSports.com, August 3, 2011, “Heat control is big focus for NFL”

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/NFL-trying-to-keep-players-safe-Minnesota-Vikings-Korey-Stringer-heat-death-Philadelphia-Eagles-Mike-Patterson-080311

Chicago Sun Times, July 27, 2011, “Heat can bring on health woes”

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/mindbody/5632895-423/heat-can-bring-on-health-woes.html

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 8, 2011, “Football player safety becomes burning concern”

http://www.ajc.com/sports/high-school/football-player-safety-becomes-1082730.html

Orlando Sentinel, August 6, 2011, “With football practice starting Monday, heat-related deaths raise concerns”

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/highschool/football/os-football-safety-heat-20110806,0,4970419.story

Athletic Business, August 3, 2011, “How To Acclimate Student-Athletes to Heat”

http://athleticbusiness.com/articles/article.aspx?articleid=2378&zoneid=38 (of note, this was used from the 2009 NATA statement on heat acclimatization).

Additional local placements (total audience reach: 450,000):

4. Ivy League Issues New Head Contact Rules For Football

The Ivy League announcing new guidelines on reducing full contact football practices on Wednesday, June 20.  New York Times sports reporter Ken Belson wrote about the new rules and reference to a Journal of Athletic Training study among select universities/colleges and issues of head contact in games vs. practices (and practices have higher hits to the head). We were contacted by Sports Illustrated (and due to follow up they are also interested in sudden cardiac arrest as a separate topic for a future issue and participated in an NATA webinar on the topic), among other outlets and have tracked coverage of the study and news as follows:

New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/20/sports/ncaafootball/college-football-to-protect-players-ivy-league-to-reduce-contact.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=%22Ken%20Belson%22&st=cse

The Crimson (Harvard): http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/7/21/league-ivy-players-football-restrictions-concussions/

Columbia Tribune: http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/jul/21/take-two/?sports

Brown Daily Herald:http://www.browndailyherald.com/ivy-league-limits-full-contact-football-practices-1.2608441

5. Trade and Legislative Efforts

NATA distributed a press release on its support of the Congressional Caucus on Youth Sports on July 27 in Washington, DC and Eric Waters’ participation.

We also released information on NATA and Congress creating the ATeam Act and was immediately picked up by HealthNewsDigest:

http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/
Fitness_520/Athletic_Trainers_and_Congress_Create_ATEAM.shtml

6. Women’s World Cup Soccer Media Effort

With news that the USA team had made it to the World Cup, we worked quickly with NATA and Ralph Reiff as our expert on soccer sports safety.

MomsTeam: “Women's World Cup Perfect Time For Soccer Safety Tips”
http://www.momsteam.com/sports/womens-world-cup-perfect-time-soccer-safety-tips#ixzz1UwcUkSoA

 http://www.momsteam.com/sports/womens-world-cup-perfect-time-soccer-safety-tips

HealthNewsDigest: “Soccer Safety Tips to Athletes of all Ages” http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Sports_50/
Soccer_Safety_Tips_to_Athletes_of_All_Ages.shtml

7. Necessary Roughness (New USA Network Series)

This is a new series on USA Network that centers on the work of a psychologist who is working with/dating the head athletic trainer (actor’s name is Mark Blucas) of a fictitious football team. It is a smart, fast moving storyline with lots of characters and color. We had been reading about it in advance of its official airing and knew that the profession was being showcased. We have since been in communication with NATA members (including Kimberly Winn who works with Tom Bair) who have served on the set and with the production colleague (Mark Ellis of Sports Studio, who has worked with several of our members) and staffs movies with actors who play sports characters. He also produces/directs his own features that include sports characters

As a result of our efforts, the show is now referencing the lead as a “head athletic trainer” (not “trainer”) and we have secured an opportunity for Keith Gorse to be featured as an on camera athletic trainer in football scenes of another Mark Ellis project – BATMAN – being filmed in Pittsburgh in August.

8. General News Bureau Consumer Placements:

USA Today, July 15, ”Study: Tests for heart defects in young athletes inaccurate”

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/story/2011/07/Study-Tests-for-heart-defects-in-young-athletes-inaccurate/49388696/1

Wall Street Journal, August1, “Attention Athletes, Professional and Not: Beware of the Back-to-Workout Injury Blues”

http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2011/08/01/attention-athletes-professional-and-not-beware-of-the-back-to-workout-blues/

Wall Street Journal, August 2, 2011

We worked with health reporter Laura Johannes on a heat stroke story. She had talked to Doug Casa and then asked for experts on the legislative and college/high school sports angles. The final story is specific to general heat stroke prevention and treatment and Doug is sourced as an athletic trainer repeatedly in the story.

Washington Post, August 1, 2011

Marje Albohm interviewed with reporter Rebecca Leet who wrote two stories on master athletes and what they need to understand about changes in their bodies so they can modify activity to avoid injury and/or recover more quickly.

Experts describe how senior athletes can reduce their risk of injury: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/experts-describe-how-senior-athletes-can-reduce-their-risk-of-injury/2011/06/20/gIQAdTInnI_story.html

Older athletes are reluctant to take it easy even though their bodies have aged: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/older-athletes-are-reluctant-to-take-it-easy-even-though-their-bodies-have-aged/2011/06/20/gIQA2zimnI_story_1.html

Arthritis Today, July/August online issue, “Circuit Training Workouts”

http://www.arthritistoday.org/fitness/starting-out/tips-for-success/circuit-training-workouts.php

The Press of Atlantic City, July 3, “More high school athletes spending summer on the practice field”

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/atlantic/more-high-school-athletes-spending-summer-on-the-practice-field/article_5cfd95a6-bb30-11e0-a258-001cc4c03286.html

The Oregonian, July 20, The Bachscore: High schools partner with hospitals and clinics for athletic trainers”

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/07/the_bachscore_high_schools_par.html

9. Trade Placements

Athletic Business, July 26, “Evidence Suggests Marijuana Use Is Up Among College Student-Athletes”

http://athleticbusiness.com/articles/article.aspx?articleid=3777&zoneid=8

Athletic Business, August 9, “California Lags in Regulating Athletic Trainers”

http://athleticbusiness.com/articles/article.aspx?articleid=3782&zoneid=33

Lower Extremity Review, July 2011, “Ankle sprain prevention revisits shoes as solution”

http://www.lowerextremityreview.com/article/ankle-sprain-prevention-revisits-shoes-as-solution

American Football Monthly Magazine, July/August 2011

John Gallup wrote a July article on heat for coaches education and interviewed Brendon McDermott for more insight. We provided recent NATA press material on heat illness prevention and treatment. The story ran in July and the article is at the end of this monthly report (no link).