SEATA Backbone Award and Sue Gunter Award

Congratulations to Micki Collins for receiving the SEATA Backbone Award and the Sue Gunter Award! Micki Collins is currently the Athletic Trainer for the LSU Women's Basketball team. She is a very hardworking Athletic Trainer and has put forth great effort as an Athletic Trainer at LSU. The SEATA Backbone Award is designed to reward the assistant athletic trainer that has played a major role as backbone to the Head Athletic Trainer, doing everything that is needed in the athletic training room to keep things running smoothly. The Sue Gunter Award was awarded by the LSU Women's Basketball team to recognize Micki for her hard work she has done in the past, especially this year with all the injuries they had. When asking Micki how she felt about receiving the awards she said, "It was a definite honor to receive both the SEATA Backbone Award and the Sue Gunter Award. Nobody gets into athletic training for accolades, but it sure feels nice to be appreciated. It was a very nice honor to be awarded these from my colleagues, peers, and athletes." Again, congratulations Micki we are lucky to have you as part of our team!

Be The Match Drive

The Be the Match program is the national marrow donor registry for the United States. The goal is to find matches for patients who have been diagnosed with any type of blood cancer or disease with no other chance of survival. Most of the time if someone is matched it will be a stem cell donation which is done by a blood donation. The only time it is a bone marrow donation is if a person matches with a baby or young child. Alpha Tau Sigma, the LSU Athletic Training Student organization, worked with Be the Match in a four day drive on LSU's campus to try to find people to be part of this registry. This drive was for a competition against other SEC Athletic Training programs to see who could get the most new members on the registry by the end of the semester. Georgia Dewey, a 2nd year LSU Athletic Training Student said, "Through Alpha Tau Sigma's efforts, 488 people were added to the national bone marrow registry this semester. Everyone really came together for the 4 day drive in Free Speech Alley. Almost every member came out and worked for at least one shift. We were thrilled at the success that we had." In the end, LSU tied with South Carolina for 1st in the drive. Congratulations to the LSU Athletic Training Program!

2016 Spring Football Game

The annual LSU Football Spring Game was held on April 16, 2016. This year the Purple team defeated the White team holding them to only 24 points. Although earlier in the day the weather was a little dark and rainy, it cleared up and the rain held off for the duration of the game. There was a great turn out as fans gathered to watch the Tigers take the field for the last time until the fall season that they are long awaiting. Without a doubt the preparation and maintenance of keeping these athletes healthy through this season was no small task. We would like to commend the Athletic Training Staff and Students on their hard work and dedication throughout the 2015 football season and their continued work throughout the spring. With only a few short months left until the arrival of the fall season, the anticipation of Saturday Nights in Tiger Stadium are right around the corner! We appreciate all of the time and hard work that the staff and athletes have put in to making this upcoming season something you won't want to miss!

March Student of the Month

Congratulations to Elizabeth Knowles on being awarded as the March 2016 Athletic Training Student of the Month! Elizabeth is a first year in the athletic training program and is currently working with Track and Field. She has shown growth and excellence inside of the athletic training room and has an extremely bright future ahead of her. Head Track and Field Athletic Trainer and Preceptor, Derek Calvert said, "Elizabeth has done a great job this year. She has been a hard worker and shows great initiative to learn. She has shown great promise as she finishes up her first year and the sky is the limit for her potential." We would like to extend our best wishes and encouragement for her as she continues through the athletic training program. Once again, congratulations Elizabeth, keep up the good work!

Symposium Success

The 12th Annual LSU Athletic Training High School Spring Symposium was a great success! We are pleased to say that this year we hosted over 250 high school students from in and around Louisiana area.  During the symposium, the LSU Athletic Training students were able to teach the high school students about Athletic Training as a career as well as practice some of the skills every athletic trainer should be proficient in.  Some of the informational topics presented this year were concussions, Tiger Hearts (hands only CPR), wound care, spine boarding, weather conditions and emergency planning. The students enjoyed a pizza lunch and they had an opportunity to ask the current athletic training students questions they had regarding our curriculum as clinical assignments.  We would like to thank all of the schools that attended. So many of the high school students seemed enthusiastic and interested in Athletic Training as an allied health profession.  We so appreciate their support, and we hope that they enjoyed the day as much as we did.  Be on the look out next year for the announcement of the date of the 13th Annual LSU Athletic Training Spring Symposium!

Help Support the LSU Athletic Training Program

On Tuesday, March 29th the LSU Athletic Training Program will be teaming up with Chipotle for a percentage night! On that day, go to Chipotle and at checkout, mention that you are there to support the LSU Athletic Training  Program.  50% of the sales for the people who are there to support us will go to our Athletic Training student organization Alpha Tau Sigma.  The money raised will help them attend professional conferences such as NATA and SEATA as well as plan for next year's annual Spring Symposium.  We greatly appreciate all of the support and are hoping to see everyone there on March 29th.  The event begins at 5pm, continues until 9pm and will be held at the Chipotle on West State Street.

February Student of the Month

Congratulations to Caitlyn Chenevert on being awarded the Athletic Training Student of the Month  February 2016! Caitlyn is a senior athletic training student who is currently working with LSU Women's Basketball. In the past Caitlyn has worked with LSU Football and LSU Swimming and Diving.  Caitlyn has proven to be an excellent student both in and out of the athletic training room setting.  When asked about her athletic training student, Head Women Basketball Athletic Trainer and Preceptor Micki Collins said, "Caitlyn is a very deserving recipient of the athletic training student of the month.  She has set an example to all by achieving in the classroom and the clinical setting. She has done so by becoming an excellent multi-tasker, hard worker, and great communicator. She will represent LSU well next year as a Graduate Assistant at the University of Mississippi." We wish her the best of luck as she continues her athletic training career.  Congratulations again Caitlyn on a job well done!

Bowl Proven

The LSU Tigers proved victorious at this year’s bowl game.  The Tigers were invited to play in the Advocare V100 Texas Bowl this year against Texas Tech University.  As with every year, meticulous preparation went into to preparing for this bowl game and everyone from the support staff to the players contributed to the outcome.  It was an exciting game for Tiger’s fans as our defense held up strong against a notable, fast-paced Texas Tech offense.  The offense shined against the 125^th defense in the nation.  We asked senior football Athletic Training Student Marissa Robles about her experience and she told us, "Being apart of a post season was great to learn and grow professionally and clinically.  While it was fun, it was an insight into how much more work goes into a longer travel week."  One of the unique parts of the bowl game was the opportunity for Jack, Andy, and Shelly to reconnect with an old student who has created a very successful career in Athletic Training. Ray Champagne has certainly come a long way from his start at LSU. He was the winner of the Tiger Cub Award in the Fall of 2009 as well as the winner of the prestigious Broussard Athletic Training Student of the Year in 2011.  It was certainly a proud moment for us to see him across the field running his own football program. 

In the end, we got the win and look forward to what next season will bring!

December Student of the Month

Congratulations Emily Heitman for receiving the Athletic Training Student of the Month for December 2015.  Emily is a third year student and is currently working with Women's Tennis.  She has also worked with Dutchtown High School and Women's Volleyball in the past.  Emily is outstanding inside the classroom and out.  Her preceptor Daniel states, "Emily is a fantastic student.  She is always willing to pick up new responsibilities, especially when we are on the road.  She always comes to work with a positive attitude and has developed a great relationship with the tennis athletes in the short time she has been with the program."  Congratulations again Emily for representing our program with class...and keep up the hard work.

LSU Athletic Training Student Symposium

The date for the 2016 LSU Athletic Training Annual Student Symposium has been announced! This year the symposium will be held at the LSU Football Operations building on Wednesday, March 9^th.  This event has gives our Athletic Training Students and the staff of Certified Athletic Trainers at LSU an opportunity to teach high school students in the state of Louisiana and the surrounding states some of the most current trends in the treatment, identification and rehabilitation of athletic injuries.  Registration for the Symposium includes lunch and t-shirt for those who attend.  This is a really great opportunity for students who think they might be interested in pursuing a career in Athletic Training to learn more about the profession, our role in collegiate athletics, and acquire new skills that can be taken back to your own campuses to improve the health and wellness of your athletes. If you are interested in attending or know someone who might be interested in bringing their students, more information can be found on our Athletic Training website: lsuats.blogspot.com under the Spring Athletic Training Symposium link.  We are very excited to introduce some minor format changes and provide a fun learning experience for the students who attend.