WFATT Impact Award Winners Series, Part 5 of 5:
Award Winner: Gal Zmora

Gal is a certified sports therapist and athletic trainer, pursuing a rigorous academic path, completing a B.Sc. in Athletic Training/Sports Therapy with honors through a collaboration with the University of Texas at Arlington. He specializes in personal training, medical sports techniques, and sports rehabilitation. He has managed a physiotherapy department and led educational programs for athletes to date. His research focuses on the psycho-social well-being of wheelchair basketball players, reflecting his commitment to improving athletic care across all abilities.

Gal currently directs content development for the Israeli Association of Athletic Training and Sports Rehabilitation (ISRAT), contributing to advancements in sports medicine.

Nominator: Orbital Hadar
Is a seasoned Athletic Therapist renowned for her ability to empower clients to excel in their athletic pursuits. With diverse experience in injury prevention, rehabilitation, and athlete development, she brings a unique blend of expertise to my practice. She began with a Bachelor's degree in Athletic Therapy from Sheridan College Institute in Canada, honed skills with training in holistic Swedish and medical massage at Reidman College in Israel. At Kiryat Ono College, OritaI plays a crucial role in shaping the future of Sports Therapy in Israel by imparting knowledge to aspiring therapists and educating students in the clinic and on the field.

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WFATT Impact Award Winners Series, Part 4 of 5:
Award Winner: Kerri Downer
Kerri has been the Head Athletic Therapist at Mount Royal University since 2018. She has worked with football, hockey, rugby, basketball, volleyball, soccer, and field hockey teams at various universities in Ontario and Alberta since 2001

Kerri also works part time as a Clinical Assistant at the Benson Concussion Institute, located in the Markin MacPhail Centre at Winsport.

Nominator: Mark Lafave, PhD, CAT (C)
Mark is the current Program Coordinator in Athletic Therapy at Mount Royal University. He has been instrumental in the profession and in developing the design and development of the clinic and athletic therapy program at MRU.

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WFATT Impact Award Winners Series, Part 3 of 5:
Award Winner: Kaori Tamura, PhD, ATC
Kaori is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Master of Science in Athletic Training at University of Hawai'i at Manoa. She is a BOC Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) and has completed a Doctor of Philosophy Master of Science while impacting the International vision of the profession of Athletic Training.
Growing up in Japan, she moved stateside to study Athletic Training. As a Japanese speaker, she studied this in a non-native language in living out her passion of helping others. Kaori utilizes her lived experience in communicating and investing in the international growth of the profession.

Nominator: Kumiko Hashida, PhD, ATC
Kumiko is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Kinesiology at University of Georgia, following the completion of her PhD in Education at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

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WFATT Impact Award Winners Series, Part 2 of 5:
Award Winner: Jim Mensch, PhD, ATC
Dr Mensch is Director of the Professional Athletic Training Program and teaches classes in the AT program and EXSC Department at the University of South Carolina. Mensch's research interests are in pediatric sports medicine and socialization of athletic training professionals into the workforce, specifically non-traditional settings. Dr. Mensch has several current projects related to sports medicine care and epidemiological research in youth sport athletes.

Nominator: Zachary Winkelmann, Ph.D., SCAT, ATC
Dr. Winkelmann teaches within the professional and post-professional athletic training program. He uses simulation, standardized patients, and case-based learning to develop athletic trainers in his courses.

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WFATT Impact Award Winners Series, Part 1 of 5:
Award Winner: Rick Griffin
Rick was named the Mariners Head Athletic Trainer in 1983, and served in that capacity for 35 years until 2016. He was then given the Title of Mariners Athletic Trainer Emeritus for the next three years, overseeing the medical aspects of the MLB draft for the Mariners until his retirement in 2019.
- 2018: Awarded the Al “Moose” Clausen Community Service Award
- 1999: awarded the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society Award
Rick has made 25 trips to Japan with MLB Teams and has been an advisor to Japanese teams and trainers in Japan over the last 3 decades. He has also served as a trainer at an All-Star game in each of the last 4 decades.

A wealth of experience and knowledge, Rick continues to contribute to the AT profession globally through numerous channels.

Nominators:
Ron Porterfield
Ron is entering his sixth year as Director of Player Health with the Los Angeles Dodgers after serving the previous twelve years as the Head Athletic Trainer for the Tampa Bay Rays, and three years as the Assistant Athletic Trainer before that. He is also the president elect of PBATS.

Larry Starr
Larry is the President - Starr Athletic Solutions and the lead ATC Injury Spotter with the NFL. He is well known for his vision, and the creation of, the entire sports medicine element of Nova Southeastern University athletics, embedding the concept of the Sports Medicine Interdisciplinary Team. He also served as the Head Athletic Trainer for the Florida Marlins from 1993-2001 and the Cincinnati Reds for 21 years prior to that.

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Where You AT?
See. Go. Learn. Grow: Short Term International Opportunities (Part 3)
The Athletic Training experience, internationally. Join the conversation with Meghan McKay and Rick Griffin. We discuss the international opportunities of the AT profession through the experiences of these two highly-qualified and well-respected guests.

Meghan has worked with the Wales Men's National Lacrosse Team and is currently a consultant with them. She is a Senior Athletic Trainer at Baylor College of Medicine, Head of Medical at Houston SaberCats Rugby, a founding franchise of Major League Rugby, and an Adjunct Faculty at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania for the MAT program. She joined the NATA International Committee in 2017 and became the CATA Liaison in early 2021.

Rick was named the Seattle Mariners Head Athletic Trainer in 1983 and served in that capacity for 35 years until 2016 he was given the Title of Mariners Athletic Trainer Emeritus for the next three years overseeing the medical aspects of the MLB draft for the Mariners until his retirement in 2019. He is deeply involved with international projects and progress through his work on the PBATS International Committee
and the NATA International Committee.

This episode can also be found on “The NATA-Cast” feed wherever podcasts are found. Something like This is an exclusive sneak peek into another podcast I hosted with NATA called “Where You AT? which is a special 4-part series on “The NATA-Cast”.

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Dr Melissa Corso
Community & Championing Your Passion

Melissa is a Sports Specialist Chiropractor and recently opened her own sports medicine clinic, THE HIVE Sports Medicine + Performance, which focuses on education, rehabilitation and performance training of young and developing athletes. Melissa is also a research associate at the Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research and is completing her PhD in Community, Population and Public Health at Ontario Tech University.

Recently, she undertook organizing the RCCSS(C) conference in Toronto, ON, an annual education weekend for interdisciplinary collaboration and networking.

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Ali Kershner
The Power Of Choice

Ali Kershner is a seasoned professional in both sport performance and business. As a director at Art of Coaching, she has played a pivotal role in shaping marketing, education, and mentorship initiatives with a focus on power dynamics, leadership, and human behavior.

Prior to Art of Coaching, Ali was the Associate Sports Performance Coach for Stanford Women’s Basketball, spent time at University of Kansas and played 4 years at Duke University on the women's soccer team, serving as Captain.
www.artofcoaching.com/whatdrivesyou
ali@artofcoaching.com
@kersher.ali on Instagram

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