March is full of important awareness events, including Women’s History Month. Since the passage of Title IX in 1972, there has been exponential growth of participation of females in sports at all levels as well as an increase of women in the athletic training profession.
Gail Weldon – NATA Hall of Fame 1995
Iconic Women in the Profession
In 1972, Sherry Bagagian became the first woman to sit for the certification exam given by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) at that time (now it is given through the Board of Certification (BOC)). According to archive records with the NATA, not long after Bagagian sat for the exam, Gail Weldon sat for the NATA exam. Weldon became an icon of women in the athletic training profession with a wide array of accomplishments. She was the first female Athletic Trainer (AT) hired by the US Olympic Committee in 1976, the first female Head AT for the 1979 Pan American Games, and the first female chief AT for the 1980 US Olympic Team. She was also the director of athletic training and physical therapy for the 1984 Olympic Games, and was selected again by the Committee as the Medical Director for the 1991 US Olympic Festival.
In 1980, Weldon left her position as the Head Women’s AT at UCLA to become the founder and owner of Women’s Training Room and Conditioning Center. Weldon was the first woman inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame in 1995, four years after her death. Today, the NATA holds a Gail Weldon Award of Excellence, which recognizes one AT each year who displays a “commitment to mentoring, professional development and life balancing for women athletic trainers or significant contributions to improve the health care of females provided by ATs.” Weldon is known as one of the most influential pioneers in the athletic training profession and serves as a role model for all women, paving the road for women to become active members of the NATA and hold a strong position in the profession.
Majorie J. Albohm is also recognized as a pivotal female figure in the profession of athletic training. She was one of the first women to be certified along with Gail Weldon and Sherry Bagagian. In addition, she was the first female AT at Indiana University and was also an original member of the NATA Foundation Board and Foundation President. In 2007, Albohm was elected to be the president of the NATA, the second woman to hold this position after Julie Max.
Read more about the chronicle of women in the profession in The Role of Women in Athletic Training: A Review of the Literature.
Breaking the Glass Ceiling
In recent years, more women have been joining the athletic training profession than men. In 2005, 47.6 percent of NATA members were women, but in 2011 that number climbed to 50.9 percent. Student memberships illustrate the trend even more, with 60 percent of those held by women.
Even though women are now a majority in the industry — a result of women coming into the business during the past decade — they hold just a few of the most lucrative jobs. Although certain areas of the profession are based around the quality of care and not by gender of the provider, there are still some areas of athletic training that remain gender biased.
Sue Falsone
Sue Falsone was the first female Head AT for the Los Angeles Dodgers when hired in 2012. Falsone broke through the glass ceiling with working for a major professional team, a job that is conspicuous in Major League Baseball, a male-dominated sport where women who aren’t reporters are rarely seen on the field and in the clubhouse. She remained the only woman in a head spot with a baseball team until she made the decision to step down last October to consult and pursue other projects.
Other women who have broken through the glass ceiling include Judy Seto, who works for the Lakers, and Ariko Iso, who was an Assistant AT for the Steelers and is now the Head AT at Oregon State University, her alma mater.
Alyssa Alpert, a 26-year-old AT, has been named the Head AT for the New York Cosmos, a legendary team in its second season in the North American Soccer League. Alpert’s older sister Alana works for Clarkson as an AT for the hockey team. Read more about their story in “Female athletic trainers making strides,” from ESPNw.
Much of the credit for the continued growth of women in the athletic training profession goes to the female ATs who have faced gender bias and discrimination and broken down many of the professional barriers.
Written By:
Brittney Ryba
BrittneyR@bocatc.org