West Tennessee Representative Nominee: Katie Perkins

My name is Katie Perkins (also known as Katie P) and I am running for the West Tennessee Representative of the Tennessee Athletic Trainers’ Society (TATS). I have been a certified athletic trainer since 2004 and have only ever worked in the state of Tennessee. Originally from Kentucky, I moved to Tennessee for college. I am a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and after college I worked at the Center for Sports Medicine as an outreach athletic trainer in the community college setting before moving to Memphis in 2011. For the past 12 years I have worked at OrthoSouth Orthopedic clinic as an outreach athletic trainer as well as school safety & security coordinator for St Agnes Academy-St Dominic School in Memphis, TN.

I am married to James Onikeku (no, I didn’t take my husband’s last name, would you?) and we have a daughter, Elizabeth. In my free time (not that I have much, just like you!), I enjoy being involved in my church, gardening, and traveling (usually for my daughter’s club volleyball games.)

I pride myself on honesty, integrity, commitment, and character – without compromise! My goals are to listen to my west Tennessee regional colleagues and bring your fresh ideas to the table so that change can be facilitated and your voice heard. I hope my service will inspire other athletic trainers from west Tennessee to join other committees and increase their participation in TATS events. So I ask for your vote for West Regional Representative of the Tennessee Athletic Trainers’ 

Secretary Nominee: Shellie Acocello

I am currently the program director for the Graduate Athletic Training Program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. I have been a certified athletic trainer for 16 years and spent nearly 10 of those years in Tennessee. I have been involved in many athletic training committees and service opportunities, including the TATS Professional Education Committee (8 years), chair of the TATS Corporate Giving Committee (3 years), CAATE Peer Reviewer, and Quality Assurance & Improvement Committee (2 years). I have a very strong passion for promoting the athletic training profession and improving the public understanding of our skill set. In my faculty role at UTC, I take great pride in helping develop and instill the same passion in our students. I believe that becoming actively involved in TATS is just one way that I can help do that.

I feel that my experiences have helped me develop many skills and attributes that will allow me to serve TATS well as Secretary. With a background in administration as a program director, I have strong record-keeping, communication, and organizational skills, with a close eye for detail. Through my experiences in strategic planning, quality assurance and improvement, I believe I will be well-suited to ensure that the goals and objectives of the TATS Board and our members will be supported.

Presidential Nominee: Racheal Lawler

Thank you for the prospect to serve as the next TATS President. For the last seven years, I have been employed in the great state of Tennessee at Lee University in Cleveland as the Clinical Coordinator of Education.  I served on the TATS Ethics committee 2019-2022, with the last year serving as the chair.  In 2021, I joined the Professional Education Committee (PEC) for TATS and assumed the role of chair in 2022.

I have been a certified athletic trainer for nearly 24 years. I gained my undergraduate degree from Lambuth University in Jackson, TN, my master’s degree from University of Central Missouri, and my doctorate degree from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions.  I have had the pleasure of working within many settings of athletic training over my career, from professional baseball, collegiate, secondary and clinic settings. My passion for athletic training continues to grow now that I get to teach young athletic trainers and mentor them into this amazing profession.

If elected, I would like to see TATS continue to improve our local community’s understanding of athletic training and the need for every institution who supports athletics to employ our services, whether directly or indirectly.  I would like to see more work done in governmental affairs and our hiring institutions to progress our stance on financial reimbursements, while looking at the chance to potentially open our practice act to update and accommodate our current and future athletic training needs.

There is much work to be done in the athletic training community.  I hope to be able to reach out to many of you for your insights. The state of Tennessee has so many great athletic trainers and I look forward to the opportunity to serve all of you.

Presidential Nominee: Helen Binkley

Brief Biography:

BOC credentialed since 1988, I have a variety of athletic training clinical experiences at Division I, II, and III colleges (private/public settings) within 4 different NATA districts (2, 3, 7, & 9).  Since obtaining my PhD in1996, I have been involved in the education of athletic trainers, becoming a program director in 2002, and at Middle Tennessee State University since 2004.  I have served TATS as the Co-chair of the Secondary Committee, Co-chair for the Education and Professionalism Committee, as well as TN representative to SEATA Research and Education Committee.   I have volunteered for the Athletic Training Board for Tennessee, currently as the Chair. In addition, I received awards within athletic training: TATS and SEATA Educator Awards, NATA Service Award, and Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award.

Vision:

My vision for TATS is to become the best state athletic training organization by providing a comprehensive practice act, educational professional development, and promoting members to maintain high quality care and professionalism.

Goals:

I have several goals including, but not limited to:

• Revision and update of the TN Athletic Training Practice Act, including:

  • Obtaining grants and funding to help with lobbying and legislative activities.

  • Matching the Practice Act with the CAATE Educational Standards and BOC Domains of Practice.

  • Educating the membership of the changes and impact of those changes.

• Advance professional development through increased educational and specialty certifications, addressing current and developing issues/content, and developing mentorship opportunities.

• Expand opportunities for engagement and communication using various connection tools including social media and increasing student memberships and involvement.

• Advocacy of the profession by building and maintaining relationships with TSSAA and other governing bodies to have current medical standards and on-going communication between organizations; encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusion; and promoting athletic training in a unified voice to a variety of professional settings.

Presidential Nominee: Mike Van Bruggen

I want to thank the membership of the Tennessee Athletic Trainers’ Society for allowing me to serve as President of our organization for the past two years. It has been the honor of my professional career. I would appreciate your support in electing me to serve as second term as President. I want TATS to serve athletic trainers across our state, helping them provide the best possible care under the best possible circumstances for our collective patients.

The past two years have not been without their struggles. I personally endured probably the most difficult year of my life and that has had a negative impact on my service to TATS. Having said that, during my tenure, we have laid the groundwork to further our organization and profession in the state. We have gotten our ATs Care initiative to the point of being able to offer training at our annual meeting in May. This is such an important program for athletic trainers, I cannot wait to see us have the ability to have crisis response teams ready to deploy across our state when needed.

We continue to prepare for legislative activity to update our practice act for the first time in 27 years. This has been a slow and arduous process, but the foundation is now in place to maximize our hope of a successful outcome. The goal is for ATs across our state to practice at the top end of our talents, knowledge, and skill sets.

My goals for TATS during the next three years include:

• successfully updated athletic training practice act and to create a more consistent presence for athletic trainers on Capitol Hill

• greater involvement and activity of our membership on the committee level

• implementation of a mechanism for athletic trainers in our state to be TATS members if they choose to not be NATA members.

• growth of attendance at our annual meeting, preferably coinciding with consistent meeting dates and location.

Thank you for your support over the past two years and thank you in advance for your support during this election and hopefully during a second term as your President.