2022 has been an exciting year for the Canadian Athletic Therapy Association (CATA)! We are so grateful for all our members and supporters who have made this year such a success. We want to share with you some of our accomplishments in 2022.
Gaining New Members
At the beginning of the year, we had over 2900 members representing athletic therapy in Canada and abroad. In 2023, we anticipate a further increase as new certification candidates and temporary international candidates join our numbers to offer elite level healthcare to active Canadians. It is wonderful to see our CATA community thriving.
We have been on a mission to raise awareness of athletic therapy and have more people consider it as a profession. We have welcomed 5 new members through the International Arrangement, 4 from the USA and 1 from the UK. We are excited to see how these numbers continue to grow.
In May, CATA was pleased to grant accreditation to the Bachelor of Kinesiology (Athletic Therapy Option) at Acadia University, the first institution to receive such designation on the east coast of Canada. With more programs available across the country, athletic therapy is an even more accessible career option for interested students!
Participating in Events
Throughout the year, CATA and its members were represented at different conferences. In the USA, we attended the Board of Certification for the Athletic Trainer (BOC) CARE Conference in Omaha, Nebraska, the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) in Atlanta, Georgia, and the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We also visited international destinations like the International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and places closer to home like the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) Claims and Anti-Fraud Conference in Windsor, Ontario. CATA covered a lot of topics — and a lot of ground — this year!
This May, we also co-hosted the WFATT World Congress XI alongside the World Federation of Athletic Training & Therapy (WFATT) and the Manitoba Athletic Therapists Association (MATA). We connected with athletic therapists and other healthcare professionals from around the world. Members attended dynamic educational sessions, all while exploring the beautiful city of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Sharing Our Knowledge
In June we celebrated Athletic Therapy Month which gave Athletic Therapists from across Canada an opportunity to come together to spread knowledge and awareness about our profession.
Our webinar series this year covered many important topics such as research, injury diagnosis, rehabilitation, treatment and mental health. We were so pleased to see so many people attending and engaging with these sessions hosted by CATA specialist.
Throughout the year, we launched several initiatives to better serve members at different career stages. We are looking forward to new initiatives, policies and progress that will come next year. We cannot be more thrilled at all we have accomplished this year and are excited to see what 2023 will bring.
To learn more about CATA visit our website. Make sure to stay up to date with CATA by following us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn!