MAATA Brand Standards

Thank you for representing the athletic training profession! Below is some quick and helpful information on our profession and organization to better inform the public about what we do and what we represent. Please read through for general guidelines and if any question remains unanswered, please feel free to Contact Us. Thank you again for your interest and taking the time to find out what we are about and how to help represent us in professional manner!

MAATA Organization

The Mid-America Athletic Trainers’ Association (MAATA) is a professional organization that represents Certified Athletic Trainers as well as Athletic Training Students in the states of South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. It’s Mission is to enhance the professional and leadership abilities of the membership by providing encouragement, mentorship and improvement opportunities in the profession of athletic training and has a Vision dedicated to increase membership involvement and public education on the profession. With those goals in mind, we have set forth the following branding guidelines to be used by those that are and are not directly affiliated with our association (Members, News Outlets, Schools, Organizations, etc.)

Athletic Training Terminology:

As of May of 2013, “Athletic Trainer” is now a defined term in the Associated Press Style Book and is as follows:

“athletic trainers: Health care professionals who are licensed or otherwise regulated to work with athletes and physically active people to prevent, diagnose and treat injuries and other emergency, acute and chronic medical conditions including cardiac abnormalities and heat stroke. Specify where necessary to distinguish from personal trainers, who focus primarily on fitness.”

Below are the recommendations and general information for Athletic Training related terminology as approved by our national organization the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. We request when referencing anything Athletic Training related, you please refrain from using the related terms “Trainer” or “Training” and recognize our professional designation as “Athletic Trainer” or “Athletic Training Staff”.

Certified Athletic Trainers

Athletic Trainers (ATs) are health care professionals who collaborate with physicians. The services provided by ATs comprise prevention, emergency care, clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions.

ATC vs AT Terminology

NATA’s policy is not to use the ATC acronym as a noun. ATC is an acronym that describes a credential, not a person, and it should only be used following the name of a certified individual. Using the ATC acronym as a noun inhibits the Board of Certification’s ability to protect the ATC credential against misuse. In other words, NATA and the BOC cannot protect the copyright on the ATC mark if it becomes known as a common noun.

Typical patients and clients served by athletic trainers include:

• Recreational, amateur, and professional athletes
• Individuals who have suffered musculoskeletal injuries
• Those seeking strength, conditioning, fitness, and performance enhancement
• Others delegated by the physician

Some places athletic training services are provided include:

• Athletic training facilities
• Schools (K-12, colleges, universities)
• Amateur, professional and Olympic sports venues
• Clinics
• Hospitals
• Physician offices
• Community facilities
• Workplaces (commercial and government)

Athletic trainers deliver rehabilitation services under a physician’s guidelines.

Guidelines are general directions and descriptions that lead to the final outcome, thereby allowing the athletic trainer to rely on clinical decision making in constructing the rehabilitation protocol. Protocol are rigid step-by-step instructions that are common in technical fields and do not allow flexibility and/or clinical decision making.

Athletic trainers function under a physician’s direction.

The terms “direction” and “supervision” mean two different things. Most importantly, supervision may require the on-site physical presence of the physician and that the physician examines each and every patient treated by an athletic trainer. Direction, on the other hand, requires contact and interaction, but not necessarily physical presence.

Athletic trainers refer to the population that receives their services as patients or clients.

Athletes comprise a significant proportion of the population who receive care from athletic trainers. However, once an athlete (or any other individual) becomes injured, he or she is a patient. The term “client” should be used for situations where individuals receive athletic training services – usually preventive in nature – on a fee-for-service basis.

Athletic trainers refer to Secondary School and College-based work spaces as facilities or clinics.

The term “Athletic Training Room” does not appropriately recognize the health care services that are delivered within its walls. It may be impractical to find a “one term fits all” descriptor to describe this area, and each institution/facility will use the most appropriate term for their venue.

Athletic trainers should not utilize the term “board certified.”

In medicine, the definition of “Board Certified” is a process to ensure that an individual has met standards beyond those of admission into licensure and has passed specialty examinations in the field. Various medical professional organizations establish their own board certification examinations. While the term “Board Certified” is recognizable within the heath care and medical communities, based on the above definition, the entry-level examination does not fit the criteria of being Board Certified. The recommended term is “certified athletic trainer.”

Source: NATA

To maintain the MAATA Brand the Board of Directors has set forth limitations on usage of MAATA logos, stationary and utilization of the association name to association related business and promotion only. When using any MAATA branded materials please abide by the following guidelines: