A Historical Timeline of Women in Athletic Training
| 1950 | * The National Athletic Trainers Association was founded in Kansas City. There were no recorded women members at that time. |
| 1956 | * Celester Hayden became the first woman to work as an athletic trainer for the Olympic Games. However, there is no record of her being certified (Randall, 1995) |
| 1966 | January: The first of those women to join the NATA was Dorothy "Dot" Cohen |
| March: The second woman to join the NATA was Sherry (Kosek) Babagian, was the first woman to take the NATA Certification exam | |
| 1967 | Three women joined the NATA: Holly Greene, PhD ATC PT, Francis Stannard and Doris Wickel |
| 1969 | Dec 31: The NATA's deadline for "grand fathering" its members |
| Jo Silken joined the NATA | |
| 1970 | * April 4: Doris Wickel, the first White woman certified by the NATA (Randall, 1995) |
| Deborah J Kiekover joined the NATA | |
| * The following women were "grandfathered" in: Claudette Dalamater, Linda Hammett, Lois Wagner and Holly (Wilson) Greene (Women in Athletic Training Committee, 1999). | |
| 1972 | President Nixon signed into law the Higher Education Act, Title IX of that law prohibited sex discrimination in school and college athletic programs |
| Six women join the NATA: Nancy Burke, Claudette Delamater, Clairbeth Lehn, Elizabeth Stevenson, Linda Treadway-Dillmon, Lois Wagner | |
| Board for Directors approved a special column in the NATA Journal directed exclusively toward women. | |
| Cramer Products and National Association for Girls and Women's Sports jointly ran athletic training clinics for women. | |
| Cramer Products published "The First Aider for Women" | |
| 1973 | * January - NATA Board of Directors (NATABOD), an Ad Hoc committee on women in athletic training was appointed (Koenigsberg & Arrighi, 1975; Wilson, 1974 a). The following women agreed to serve as members of the committee: Marge Albohm, Kaye Cosby, Linda Hammett, Sherry Kosek, Linda Treadway, Sue Schnieder and Gail Weldon. Holly Wilson was named Chair (Wilson, 1974 a). The purpose of the committee was to "...identify the needs of women trainers and make recommendations on how the N.A.T.A. can provide for the advancement of women in athletic training." (Wilson, 1974 a, p.11). |
| 13 women were recorded as joining the NATA | |
| June: The Journal of Athletic had a new columnist, Holly Wilson, athletic trainer at Indiana State University, calling the first article "Not for Men Only" | |
| 1974 | * A total of 24 NATA approved undergraduate programs accepted women (Wilson, 1974 c). Holly Wilson authored an athletic training book for women: Workbook: Fundamentals of Athletic Training for Women, which was the first book written by a female ATC. The purpose was to provide women with information on how to establish athletic training programs for female athletes |
| * There were approximately16 women certified athletic trainers (Koenigsberg & Arrighi, 1975; Wilson, 1974 d) | |
| Marjorie Albohm, Maryann Zickel, Linda 'Twilda' Treadway, Linda Weber Daniel, Marsha King Mizelle, Diane Stevens, Gail Weldon were all certified. | |
| 1975 | Marcia Anderson's study "Pioneer Women Athletic Trainers: Their Side of the Story"; chronicling the experiences of 13 women who practiced in the male-dominated profession during the 1960's and 70's |
| September 20: Iris Kimura was the first Asian woman to become certified by the NATABOC | |
| October 8: Marsha L. Grant was the first African American woman to become certified by the NATABOC | |
| October 28: Kathy Courtney was the first Native American woman to become certified by the NATABOC | |
| 57 women are recorded as joining the NATA during the year | |
| 1976 | Gail Weldon was the first woman selected for the U.S. Olympic team medical staff |
| The NATA Journal exclusively for women was discontinued. | |
| * There were approximately 60 women certified athletic trainers (Martin, 1976) | |
| * There were approximately 318 females enrolled in 50 colleges with NATA approved programs (Martin, 1976) | |
| 1977 | 88 women were recorded as joining the NATA |
| 1979 | Gail Weldon becomes the first woman to be selected as head athletic trainer for the Pan American Games |
| 1980 | * Carmen Cellon became the first Hispanic woman certified by the NATA (Grant-Ford, personal communication, 1998) |
| 1984 | Janice Daniels (District 8) was elected to the NATA Board as the first woman director |
| 1989 | The NATA presented the following award: Lynn Brans the Presidents Challenge Award |
| 1991 | Julie Max was (District 8) was the second woman to serve on the Board of Directors and the first woman appointed as Vice President of the NATA Board |
| 1992 | * Eve Becker Doyle, a White female was hired as the first woman NATA Executive Director (McMullan, 1996). |
| 1992-96 | Denise Fandel served as president of the NATA' Board of Certification |
| 1994 | Kay Curran wrote an article for the Women's Sports Foundation in New York City, "Health Careers for Women in Professional Sports" |
| 1995 | June: The NATA presented the following awards: Gail Weldon was the first woman (posthumously) into the NATA Hall of Fame; Earlene Durrant, Margorie Albohm and Karen Toburen the Most Distinguish Athletic Trainer |
| 1996 | Women constituted 44% of NATA's membership; they also held 26% of the Board, Committee, and Liason positions within the NATA |
| June: Survey results were presented to the NATA Board of Directors and to the membership at the NATA national meeting; The Women in Athletic Training Task Force became the Women in Athletic Training Committee | |
| The NATA presented the following awards: Kathy Courtney the Bill Chisolm; Jane Steinberg the Athletic Trainer Service Award | |
| 1997 | Fandel was the first person to assume NATABOC's Administrator of Credentialing programs position |
| * 6,049 (43%) women ATCs in the NATA, of which two hundred and eleven (3%) are women of color (NATA, 1997, Shingles, 1998) | |
| * In order to determine what the issues and concerns were, in 1997, the Women in Athletic Training Committee conducted a survey of 1000 women ATCs. The committee found that 78-97.9% of women surveyed had never served or held office on a NATA or athletic training committee at the state, district or national level. More women were involved at the state level than at any other level. | |
| June: The NATA presented the following awards: Wendy Runly, Lori Glover, Anita Clark, Lorin Cartwright , Julie Max, Kim Bissonnette, Kathleen Laquale and Gwen Hoffman the Athletic Trainer Service; Margorie Albohm the Tim Kerin Award | |
| 1998 | June: The NATA presented the following awards: Malissa Martin, Patricia A. Aronson and Sally E. Nogle the Athletic Trainer Service Award; Mary Lloyd Ireland the President's Challenge Award; Patricia Troesch, Kathleen A. Schneidwind and Catherine A. Grove the Most Distinguished |
| 1999 | * 1,101 students graduated from entry-level athletic training programs; 584 (53%) were women and 517 (47%) were men; 137 students graduated from graduate athletic training education programs; 64 (47%) were women and 73 (53%) were men (Joint Review Committee, 2000) |
| Keisha Harriell became the first female graduate member of the Ethnic Diversity Advisory Council | |
| June: The NATA presented the following awards: Margorie Albohm, the first woman to be certified by the NATA, and Karen R. Toburin are inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame; Wendy Runley, Julie Max and Anita Clark the Most Distinguish Athletic Trainer; Sheila Curry, Katherine Piroq and Karen Manista the Athletic Trainer Service | |
| 2000 | Julie Max was elected as the first woman president of the NATA (the NATA currently has 25,000 members) |
| NATA Salary Data Survey shows that the national average salary of women is $38,780 and the average national salary of men is $48,538 | |
June: The NATA presented the following awards: Earlene Durrant is inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame; MaryBeth Horodyski and Sharon Summers the Athletic Trainer Service Award; Jo Silken and Gretchen Schlabach the Most Distinguish Athletic Trainer |
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| 2001 | June: At the 51st NATA Annual Symposium in Los Angeles, CA the convention program featured 113 sessions where a woman appeared to be a primary speaker |
| The inaugural Gail Weldon Award was presented to Kathie S. Courtney | |
| The NATA presented the following awards: Carsandra Taylor received 25 years Service Award; Sue A Stanley-Green the Most Distinguish Athletic Trainer; Rebekah Bower and Kimberly Blackburn the Athletic Trainer Service | |
| 2002 | June: Ariko Iso is hired by the Pittsburg Steelers organization, making her the first woman to be hired as a permanent full-time staff athletic trainer in the NFL |
| At the 52nd NATA Annual Symposium in Dallas, TX the convention 102 women were given the 25 year Service Award, Sue Finkham was named the 2nd recipient of the Gail Weldon Award |
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| July: Gretchen Schabach, PhD, ATC represented the NATA at the "Female Athlete Triad Summit" which addresses the combination of three interrelated illnesses when young females athletes go to extremes in dieting and exercise to enhance their performance; along with 11 other allied health organizations. | |
* indicates information from: "WOMEN IN ATHLETIC TRAINING: THEIR CAREER AND EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES" By René Revis Shingles A DISSERTATION PROPOSAL, Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Kinesiology 2000
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