The first-ever Youth Sports Safety Ambassador Awards were presented during today's Youth Sports Safety Summit in Dallas. The Youth Sports Safety Ambassador award recognizes an individual or entity that has made a significant contribution to advancing athlete safety based on one of two criteria:
- By providing exemplary youth sports safety protocols and care that sets a precedent and/or model that others can follow.
- By advancing youth sports safety in one of the following areas: provision of appropriate medical care, research, policy change and/or resource allocation.
Meet the inaugural recipients of the Youth Sports Safety Ambassador Award:
Dawn Comstock, PhD. As one of the country’s leading high school injury surveillance published researchers whose studies have influenced policy change and best practices, Dawn’s dedication and tireless voice to improving the health and safety of young athletes is significant.
Dawn Comstock, PhD, poses with NATA President-Elect Scott Sailor, EdD, ATC, after receiving one of NATA’s inaugural Youth Sports Safety Ambassador Awards.
NFL Foundation. The NFL Foundation’s commitment to youth athlete safety embodies the spirit of this award through its leadership in initiatives such as: USA Football’s Heads Up Football, funded in part by the NFL Foundation, that emphasizes safer and smarter ways to play and teach youth football; and the NFL Foundation Athletic Trainer Program, which provided matching grants to NFL Clubs to fund athletic trainers in underserved middle schools, high schools and youth leagues nationwide.
Meredith Counce, marketing programs manager for the Dallas Cowboys, accepts the NATA Youth Sports Safety Ambassador Award from NATA President-Elect Scott Sailor, EdD, ATC, on behalf of the NFL Foundation.
Dallas Independent School District (DISD). DISD’s hiring of one or more full-time athletic trainers for all high schools in the district reinforced its commitment to athlete safety. As the 14th largest district in the nation, their dedication to improving the health and safety of young athletes is significant and wide reaching for athletes in urban and suburban communities.
Dallas Independent School District Director of Athletics Gil Garza and DISD Head Athletic Trainer Phil Francis, ATC, pose with NATA President-Elect Scott Sailor, EdD, ATC, after receiving one of NATA’s Youth Sports Safety Ambassador Awards.
Congratulations to our award winners!
Posted by NATA Communications Manager Jordan Grantham (jordang@nata.org)
Photos by Renee Fernandes
