Dear Secondary School Athletic Trainer of Florida,

The Athletic Trainers’ Association of Florida Secondary Schools Committee is starting a new mentorship program with the goals to engage early career professionals with the state association and increase networking opportunities across various practice settings within Florida.
About the Program

The program will address topics such as communication, time management, career advancement, and self-care with a variety of mentors across disciplines. Mentors will provide guidance to the mentee, facilitate thoughts and goals with the mentee, and help contribute to the growth of the mentee as a clinician and person.

On the ATAF webpage, the mentor’s contact information will be posted.  Mentees will be assigned a mentor who has similar interests within the field of athletic training.

When does mentoring take place?
The mentee will be responsible for reaching out and contacting their assigned mentor. Future communication between mentor and mentee will be established during the initial conversation. Mentors will encourage the mentee to think about goals they would like to accomplish, professionally and personally. Throughout the year, the mentor and mentee will work on ways to accomplish the goals and maintain communication whether it be about the profession or something personal that the mentee needs guidance on.

When does the mentorship program begin?
The mentorship program will commence at the annual 2022 ATAF meeting and end the following symposium. For completion of the program, recognition and certificate of completion will be awarded at the ATAF Annual Meeting 2023.
Monthly topics and evaluation surveys will be sent out to the mentor and mentees through Google Classroom. A Gmail account will be needed to access the platform.
To participate, please complete the application below. If you have any additional questions, please contact us at ssatc@ataf.org

Qualifications and Expectations
1. Certified athletic trainer with fewer than seven years of professional experience
2. NATA Member
3. Able to obtain NPI number
4. Ability to attend monthly/quarterly zoom call
5. Complete quarterly assigned modules
6. Attend ATAF annual meeting in 2022 and 2023

If you are interested in participating, submit the application below. Once you submit your application, the Secondary School Committee will contact you with the next steps. If you have any additional questions, please contact us at ssatc@ataf.org

We look forward to a successful new mentorship program!

Julie Burton and Keith Miessau