Nicolette “Nikki” Harris serves as an Associate Professor and the Director of Student Recruitment for the Department of Athletic Training at A.T. Still University. An alumnus of the ATSU Doctor of Athletic Training (DAT) program, Dr. Harris brings a wealth of clinical experience to her department. Prior to arriving at ATSU in 2021, she spent 6 years as the Coordinator for Athletic Training Services for Florida International University (FIU) where she worked to mature the healthcare services provided to both FIU students and campus recreation participants. In addition, she served 3 years as the Head Athletic Trainer at Miami Booker T. Washington Senior High School providing care to secondary school athletes during their pursuit of 4 State Championship Titles.

In addition to her clinical practice, she has served as a Clinical Assistant Professor and Clinical Preceptor to athletic training students. Nikki actively engages in professional service at all levels, currently sitting as the NATA Career Advancement Committee (CAC) Chair, Co-Chair for the Educators Subgroup of the NATA AT Compensation Taskforce, the BOC Liaison to the Athletic Training Research Agenda Committee (ATRAC), the Chair for the ATSU Arizona School for Health Sciences  (ASHS) Diversity Enrichment in Education Committee as well a member of the CAATE Education Committee, NATA Executive Council for Education Social Determinants of Learning Workgroup, and the NATA Executive Director Search Committee. Dr. Harris values the effects of research on practice and education and has demonstrated a commitment to the advancement of the athletic training profession through her scholarly work. Nikki currently resides in Orlando, FL with her husband Tim Harris Jr, son Timothy Harris III (Trey), daughter Tailor Harris, and dog Mama Harris.

Serving as the Southeast Athletic Trainers' Association (SEATA) Young Professionals' Committee Chair (2018–2021) and the NATA Career Advancement Committee Chair (2021–Present) has given me a unique perspective on the full career journey of athletic trainers, from those just entering the profession to those pursuing growth and leadership at all levels.

As an athletic trainer and educator, I bring more than 12 years of experience across multiple settings within District 9. I’ve spent three years in the secondary school setting, six years in clinical practice at the college/university level, and ten years in higher education, teaching in both professional and post-professional athletic training programs. My work as a researcher has been rooted in the realities and needs of our members. I have led numerous research studies including three stemming directly from my leadership of the NATA Career Advancement Committee. These include investigations into post-pandemic employment satisfaction among early-career and career-advancing ATs and strategies to improve retention of athletic trainers in the college/university setting. I’ve also published work focused on athletic trainers’ satisfaction with practice setting transitions and had my work regarding athletic trainers' perceptions of current athletic training leadership accepted for publication. Through these scholarly findings, I’ve gained a deep understanding of the evolving challenges, values, and priorities of our members.

I’m deeply committed to the full spectrum of athletic training practice. While I seek to highlight those working in emerging settings, I also recognize the need to re-center support for athletic trainers in traditional roles. Our profession cannot thrive without those providing care on the sidelines, in athletic training clinics, and in the schools and universities that serve our physically active patients. These roles remain the backbone of athletic training, and they deserve renewed attention, respect, and resources from our association. It’s important that we not only spotlight the diversity of our settings but also retain athletic trainers and SEATA members across them. If elected as District Director, I intend to act on that commitment by developing and sharing practical resources designed to support long-term job and career satisfaction. This includes resources for both employers and ATs that feature strategies for establishing appropriate workload, negotiating compensation, ensuring effective mentorship, planning for employee wellness, and developing leadership. By equipping our members and their employers with tools for success, we can strengthen our profession from the inside out.

Furthermore, I believe that the future of athletic training depends on our ability to safeguard our scope, elevate our recognition, and secure our place within the broader healthcare system. As District Director, I would work closely with our state associations on licensure efforts, improve reimbursement initiatives, and ensure our profession is represented in critical conversations about healthcare and education. To make these advocacy efforts more accessible and impactful, I plan to mobilize our membership by activating SEATA’s strongest voices. Specifically, I aim to recruit District 9 members with existing influence on social media and in other channels and support them in becoming visible and vocal advocacy ambassadors. These individuals can serve as champions at legislative days, speak directly with policymakers, and share strategic advocacy content that reaches a broad audience. To support them, I’ll provide easy-to-use templates, talking points, and real-time guidance that would help athletic trainers confidently engage in this advocacy work.

I am running for SEATA District Director because I believe genuinely in intentional leadership and the power of representation. To me, representation means more than visible diversity, it means creating a platform where diverse thoughts, backgrounds, identities, ages, and career lengths are not only welcomed but actively valued. It means ensuring that our profession honors the contributions and wisdom of our most experienced members while also embracing the ideas and perspectives of newer professionals who bring energy and innovation to our plans. I plan to lead in a way that bridges generations. I want to support and celebrate the veterans of our profession who have built the foundation we stand on, while also fostering an environment where growth, change, and evolution are seen as shared goals, not threats.

We are at a pivotal moment in athletic training. With vision, humility, and shared purpose, I believe we can build a district that is inclusive, innovative, and unwavering in its support of its members. I’m ready to lead in a way that honors diverse perspectives and experiences while embracing the innovative action plans needed to move our profession forward together.

Chris King, a native of Oneonta, Alabama, is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi and a proud 37 year member of the NATA. 25 of those years he spent as a high school teacher where he retired in 2017 and now manages ATs for 20+ high schools in Alabama. While his many years have revolved around the secondary school setting, he also serves as a co-director of the RT Floyd AT Residency Program for ASMI, here in Birmingham, which involves the physician’s practice setting, among others. He is very passionate about growing this profession and wants to see the NATA to be recognized as a positive element that all ATs will aspire to actively be associated with.

His past leadership roles have included in Alabama, serving as ALATA Executive Council member, Secondary School Chair, GAC Chair, State President, and Parliamentarian. At SEATA, he has served on the Executive Board as state president, and Governmental Affairs Committee member and Chair. He has served for almost 12 years on the Alabama Board of Athletic Trainers and is currently the Chair. All these executive experiences as well as the time collaborating with other leaders, both young and well-seasoned, have prepared him for this role.

Today he serves as the D9 GAC Chair and sits on the NATA GAC. He has had the honor of representing ATs in multiple state houses as well as the US Congress. His biggest honor has come from being associated with the passing of multiple pieces of legislation and having been involved with legislation across D9 as well as beyond. The opportunity to witness having words on paper culminate into an actual law is both profound and humbling.

Should he be so honored to be selected, his goals as D9 District Director would be to proudly represent you on the Board of Directors and be a part of the transition through these challenging times as we continue this journey of professional expansion. He also plans to utilize his many years of legislative work to continue to develop new pathways for the profession to grow and mature while maintaining the standards of traditional healthcare that got us to where we are.

He is immensely proud of his family, who is deeply rooted in community service. His wife is a math specialist for Athens State University, his oldest son is a police officer in Birmingham and his youngest son is a teacher in Huntsville. He is honored by the nomination and looks forward to the opportunity to run for this position and to continue to serve his profession.

I am Mike Van Bruggen, and I am a candidate for NATA District 9 Director. I have been a NATA member for 39 years, primarily in SEATA, though I have also lived and worked in Districts 7 and 6. I earned my bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky in Physical Education and my master’s degree from the University of Arizona in athletic training. Through my career, I have gained experience in many athletic training settings, including both large and small high schools, professional sports, and colleges. My college experience is all-encompassing, from two-year institutions to the NAIA, Division 3, Division 2, and Division 1. These experiences have demonstrated to me that there are a great many differences between the work settings athletic trainers provide patient care in, but there are also many commonalities. These commonalities are what bind us together as athletic trainers, such as our quality education, standards of practice, and desire to continue to push the envelope to advance ourselves and our profession within the healthcare marketplace.

My primary goal as District Director is to do everything I can to ensure the membership of NATA District 9 is communicated with in a prompt and transparent manner about how NATA is working on their behalf. Every single member of SEATA is important I will strive to communicate with every member from Kentucky to Tennessee to Georgia to Florida to Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, including the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. I will not only accept input from the membership but will actively seek it out! I intend to have regularly scheduled listening sessions with SEATA membership where I will share information about what the NATA Board of Directors is doing for the profession and where I will listen to ideas and concerns of the membership that need to be brought to the NATA Board. This would be done via Zoom.

An added priority for me is the fiscal state of NATA and the management of the membership’s resources. It is critical that our resources be managed in a fiscally sound manner and that our money is spent wisely on items that are critical to advancing our profession as we move forward. To this end, I will critically review and be prepared to ask tough questions about our association’s finances. I have experience managing budgets ranging from $800 to over $100,000. My role as Vice President of Finance for the NATA Foundation has taught me innumerable lessons regarding the evaluation and management of multi-million dollar portfolios. These experiences will serve me (and US!) well as I review and discuss NATA financial matters within the boardroom.

I have served in a variety of leadership roles throughout my career. In my employment, I have developed, grown, and led an athletic training staff of as many as eleven full-time athletic trainers as well as behavioral health professionals, physical therapists, and strength & conditioning specialists. As a volunteer in professional organizations, I have had the privilege of serving as a member of committees and work groups on the state, district, and national levels. I have chaired committees and work groups on the state, district, and national levels as well. These opportunities have allowed me to lead, influence and inspire fellow professionals. These roles have provided a platform for me to affect change and demonstrate my dedication to advancing the athletic training profession. In Tennessee, I have served as a leader in the roles of Regional Representative, Vice President, and President of the Tennessee Athletic Trainers’ Society. In SEATA, I have chaired the College & University Athletic Trainers’ Committee and the Governmental Affairs Committee as well as serving on the Executive Board. I have also served as the District 9 Chair, Chair of the Finance Committee and Vice President for Finance for the NATA Foundation.

Serving in these roles has been a tremendous educational opportunity for me and has taught me valuable lessons about leadership and my own personal growth and development. I have learned some of these lessons through success, but most through failure. For me, failure is where I have found the greatest growth. I have learned about the difficulties of tearing down silos to work collaboratively with other groups and the challenges of managing people with different agendas and perspectives. The most demanding thing in leadership is the building of a collective buy-in within the boardroom. Constructive disagreement and dissent are imperative in the boardroom conversations and all conversations with membership. However, after a vote, all members of the executive board must walk out of the room, not just accepting the decisions made in the room, but in support of those decisions. To do otherwise is to allow divisiveness which weakens the organization. Working on the finance committees for SEATA and The Foundation have introduced me to aspects of fiscal management that I did not understand before these experiences. It is critical that leadership on all levels of the athletic training professional organizations practice sound fiscal management of the membership’s resources and be outstanding stewards of those funds. A healthy future for our professional organizations is fundamentally dependent on this!

To me, leadership is something that many people try to make more complicated than it really is. In its simplest form, I believe leadership is helping others. Communication is imperative to effective leadership. It starts with listening with an open mind to understand the topic, the speaker’s perspective, and their desires. Leaders must gather information about a topic before taking a stance on that topic. Sometimes this is achieved quickly and sometimes it takes a protracted length of time, but it is critical that all aspects of the topic be explored by leadership. This needs to be done as expeditiously as possible in a transparent manner.

As District Director, I will work every day to communicate effectively with our members, listening carefully to understanding thoughts and concerns while being as transparent as situations allow. I will strive to listen with an open mind, without preconceived notions about topics of concern to the membership. One of the greatest strengths of the profession of an athletic trainer is its diversity, but this can also be one of the profession’s greatest weaknesses. Athletic trainers come from all the diverse backgrounds and thought processes that are found in this country. We provide healthcare in so many different clinical settings, using our broad scope of education and professional preparation. This is a strength of ours and we need to capitalize on it. However, it can be a weakness when individuals in subgroups choose to oppose other subgroups in attempts to position their subgroup with a greater advantage compared to another. It is leadership’s responsibility (the District Directors) to engage the membership to ensure equality, inclusion and accessibility for all the diverse groups of athletic trainers that make up our organizations and ensure everyone has a voice that is heard.

The leadership roles I have held within the athletic training profession have allowed me to affect meaningful changes, drive innovation, and promote the highest standard of care for our patients. I am committed to continuing my efforts to advance the profession, ensuring athletic trainers play a pivotal role in the health and well-being of athletes and active individuals alike. Through collaboration, advocacy, and dedication, I will continue to make a lasting impact on the athletic training community and the patients we serve.

The role of the District Director is defined by the Constitution and By-laws of the NATA and SEATA as well as their policies and procedures. They mirror each other closely. To summarize the role, I believe the District Director is supposed to stand for the membership of SEATA in the NATA board room and to represent the NATA to the membership. The District Director should be a conduit to ensure the free flow of information and communication in a timely manner between the membership, the national office, and NATA Board of Directors. As the District 9 Director, I will be open, transparent, and diligent in my daily efforts to ensure the members of D9 are informed promptly and that they are represented in the boardroom. When I make decisions on a topic, I want the membership to be assured that I 1) communicated with and listened to the membership regarding the topic and 2) acted in what I believe is the best interest of the organization and the profession of athletic training.