9:29 a.m., March 6, 2009----Three University of Delaware athletic training students attended the inaugural iLead Student Leadership Program, sponsored by the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) and held in Washington, D.C., from Feb. 21-23.

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Junior Steve Feldman and seniors Rae Everson and Meredith Link joined more than 150 student peers participating in iLead.

According to Marjorie Albohm, president of NATA, this year's conference, which was held in conjunction with the 2009 Capitol Hill Day Campaign and the Athletic Training Educators' Conference, boasted a “stellar group of athletic training students.”

NATA's mission is to enhance the quality of health care provided by certified athletic trainers and to advance the athletic training profession.

“The whole idea of the conference was to bring together the best AT students in the country and put them in one room to discuss different methods of leadership and in some cases how to handle different situations that arise in our profession,” Feldman says. “Any time you can put together quality people in one place, only great things can come from it.”

The iLead program is constructed around a series of educational and interactive sessions led by industry executives and association members. The sessions focus on helping students to improve their communication and job seeking skills, determine their leadership style and address how the changing world is affecting the athletic training profession.

“The iLead conference was a great opportunity to meet athletic training students from all over the nation and hear about each of their programs and different clinical experiences,” Link says.

Everson, who plays a leadership role in a number of student organizations on campus, found particular value in a trip to Capitol Hill. On the second day of the conference, the students joined a group of certified athletic trainers in a meeting with legislators to raise awareness of important athletic training legislation to be introduced in the House and the Senate.

According to Tom Kaminski, associate professor of health, nutrition and exercise sciences and director of athletic training education at UD, Feldman, Everson and Link were selected by members of the University's Athletic Training Steering Committee.

“The choice was quite clear to all of us,” he says, “because of the leadership qualities these students possess and their ongoing involvement as scholars and quality citizens. All three of them give of their time and energy to help others in the program, and they are all very active in the Student Athletic Trainers' Club -- a social, community service and philanthropic organization at UD.”

Article by Diane Kukich