History and Archives
Contacts:
The purpose and objectives of the History and Archives Committee shall be: To gather and preserve, the information, photographs, and artifacts of the significant events and people in the NWATA, and promote the use of this information to honor our past and inspiration for the advancement of athletic training within our district and the NATA at large.
History of the NWATA:
From 1950-1971, District 10 consisted of only the Canadian Providences. Washington, Oregon and Alaska were part of District 8 along with California, Hawaii and Nevada. Idaho and Montana were in District 7 along with Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. In 1972, the current Northwest Athletic Trainers’ Association was formed and included the current membership states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska as well as Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. The Canadian Providences eventually evolved into the Canadian Athletic Trainers' Association and were no longer connected to the NATA.
Key Events and People in our History:
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Sherry Kosek-Babagian from the University of Washington became the first female to pass the NATA BOC exam in 1971.
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In January of 1972, NATA restructing of Districts lead to the development of the current District 10, which had been just the Canadian Providences. With the change, D-10 included the States of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.
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The first official membership meeting of the newly formed District was held in Eugene, OR on July 26, 1972 with the primary goal of election of officers.
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Seattle hosted the NATA Convention in 1980. Jim Whitesel was the host Athletic Trainer and Naseby Rhinehart provided the keynote address.
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The first stand-alone District meeting and symposia was held in Moscow, Idaho in 1980. The first Student Forum also took place at this meeting.
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Mark Smaha (WSU) served as the NATA President from 1988-1992
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Bob Grams (SPU) served as BOC President from 1988-1992
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Jim Whitesel (Seahawks) and staff were named NFL Athletic Staff of the year in 1993.
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Russ Cagle (Willamette University) served as BOC President from 1998-2000.
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Mark Hoffman (Oregon State) served as the NATA Foundation President 2013-2015.
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Ken Kladnik (Central Washington) served as the Chair of the NATA Foundation Scholarship committee from 2001-2008 and recognized as the 2008 NATA Foundation Volunteer of the Year.
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Ariko Iso (Oregon State) was hired as the first full time female atheltic trainer in the NFL by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2002.
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Cari Wood becomes the first female District Director in 2013 and also was the first female inducted into the NWATA Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Mark Smaha was awarded the Eve Becker-Doyle Leadership award in for Lifetime Service 2016.
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Tony Fitzpatrick was selected as the Vice President of the NATA in 2020.
NWATA Directors
Sayers “Bud” Miller 1972-1973
Dick Melhart 1973-1976
Larry Stanifer 1977-1979
Gary Craner 1979-1982
Mark Smaha 1982-1988
Dennis Sealey 1988-1994
Jim Whitesel 1994-1997
Tom Koto 1997-2003
Barrie Steele 2003-2009
Russ Ricardson 2009-2013
Cari Wood 2013-2017
Tony Fitzpatrick 2017-2022
Kasee Hindenbrand 2022-
NWATA HALL OF FAME MEMBERS
Class of 1999
Francis “Packey” Boyle (Idaho)
Gary Craner (Boise State)
Gary Smith (Central Washington)
James Whitesel (Seattle Seahawks)
Mark Smaha (Washington State)
Naseby Rhinehart (Montana)
Bob Peterson (Washington)
Chuck Karnop (Montana State)
Dean Adams (Oregon)
Dennis Sealey (Washington)
Phil Luckey (Idaho State)
Class of 2000
Ken Kladnik (Central Washington)
Class of 2002
James “Zeke” Schuldt (Puget Sound)
Class of 2004
Dave Kendall (Western Montana)
Tom Koto (St. Lukes/Boise)
Class of 2006
Dale Blair (Wenatchee, WA H.S.)
Class of 2010
Barrie Steele (Idaho)
Jim Richards (Northwest University)
Class of 2014
Tony Fitzpatrick (Timberline H.S)
Class of 2015
Russ Richardson (Western Montana)
Class of 2016
Marty Matney(Work-Fit/Boeing)
Class of 2018
Cari Wood (Redmond, OR H.S)
NATA HALL OF FAME MEMBERS FROM THE NWATA
Year Inducted
Naseby Rhinehart (Montana) 1967
Bill Robertson (Oregon State) 1971
Bud Miller (Washington) 1980
Bob Peterson (Washington) 1981
Packey Boyle (Idaho) 1982
Dick Vandervort (Washington State) 1988
Gary Craner (Boise State) 1994
Mark Smaha (Washington State) 1997
James Whitesel (Seattle Seahawks) 1998
Ken Kladnik (Central Washington) 2002
Tom Koto (St. Lukes Ortho/Sports Med) 2010
Barrie Steele (Idaho) 2011
Russ Richardson (Western Montana) 2015
Marty Matney (Work Fit/Boeing) 2018
Accredited Educational Program
Education has always been a priority in the NWATA. We have one of the longest standing student specific forums at our annual meeting, which began in 1980. Additionally, we offer 7 scholarships to our District’s student membership. We also have multiple accredited programs beginning with the University of Montana in 1971.
1971 Montana (Naseby Rhinehart/Dr. Wally Schwank)
1974 Oregon State University (Dr. Richard Irvin)
1974 Washington State University (Dr. Doug Sebold)
1978 Univ. of Oregon Graduate Program (Dr. Lou Osternig)
1982 Boise State University (Dr. Ron Pfeiffer)
1999 Whitworth University (Dr. Russ Richardson)
2000 Linfield College (Tara Lepp)
2000 George Fox College (Dale Isaak)
2000 Montana State University, Billings (Dr. Mike Diede)
2002 Eastern Wash. Univ. (Dr. G. Babcock/Dr. J. Kawaguchi)
2003 University of Idaho (Dr. A. Nasypany/Dr. J. Seegmiller)
2014 Pacific University (Dr. Jeff Kawaguchi)
2014 Idaho State Universtiy (Dr. Dani Moffitt)
District Meetings/Symposia
Our very first meeting of the newly formed District 10, which included our present states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska was conducted in Eugene OR on July 23, 1972. It was held at the Black Angus Inn in conjunction with the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons Sports Medicine Meeting. During this initial meeting, officers were elected and a By-laws developed.
From 1973-1975, Dr. Keith Peterson of Seattle Sports Medicine hosted a weekend Symposia on the care and treatment of athletic injuries. District 10 held their business meetings during the lunch hour on Saturday. Bud Miller was the District Director and chaired the one hour meeting. The lunchoen consisted of buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Those known to be in attendance were such notables as Mark Smaha, Jim Whitesel, Chuck Karnop, Gary Craner, Gary Smith, Larry Stanifer, Dick Melhart, Wayne Rasmussen, Ken Kladnik and others.
In 1976-79, our meetings were held at Portland State University during a Sports Medicine Workshop. Leo Marty was the host of the event. It was lead by then District Director, Larry Stanifer from the University of Oregon.
Our first true stand-alone symposia/meeting of the NWATA was held in 1980 at the University Inn in Moscow Idaho. The co-chairs were Mark Smaha from Washington State University and Ken Kladnik from the University of Idaho. The Student Fourm also began this year under the leadership of Barrie Steele and Tom Koto.
The following are the site/host of all of the meetings to date.
NWATA Meeting/Site/Coordinators
1972 Eugene, OR Larry Stanifer
1973-74 Sea-Tac, WA Dr. Peterson/Bud Miller
1975-79 Portland State University Leo Marty
1980 Moscow, ID M. Smaha/K. Kladnik
1981 Tacoma, WA Zeke Schuldt
1982 Eugene, OR Dean Adams/K. O’Neill
1983 Coeur d’ Alene,OR Steve DeLong
1984 Bellevue, WA Jim Richards
1985 Boise, ID Ron Pfeiffer
1986 Portland, OR Jim Wallis
1987 Spokane, WA Steve DeLong
1988 Eugene, OR D. Adams/K. Kladnik
1989 Tacoma, WA Gary Nicholson
1990 Boise, ID Tom Koto
1991 Bellevue, WA Jim Richards
1992 Portland, OR Jim Wallis
1993 Spokane, WA McDonnell/Williams
1994 Eugene, OR Rod Harter
1995 Portland, OR Peter Harmer
1996 Boise, ID Ron Pfeiffer
1997 Yakima, WA Mike Perala
1998 Tacoma, WA Gary Nicholson
1999 Spokane, WA Richardson/J. Durocher
2000 Portland, OR Jim Wallis
2001 Boise, ID T. Fitzpatrick/T. Pasco
2002 Eugene, OR Tom Embree
2003 Sea-Tac, WA Chris Murphy
2004 Seaside, OR Erin Cramer
2005 Spokane, WA Kawaguchi/T. Sandburg
2006 Boise, ID Tony Fitzpatrick
2007 Vancouver, WA Chris Murphy
2008 Bellevue, WA Pat Jenkins
2009 Seaside, OR Cari Wood/Greg Hill
2010 Spokane, WA Kasee Hildenbrand
2011 Eugene, OR Sierra Dawson
2012 Bellevue, WA Craig Bennett
2013 Boise, ID Pam Arriola
2014 Portland, OR Shelly Jones
2015 Spokane, WA C.Wright/G. Babcock
2016 Boise, ID Arriola, Clark, Schisel VanAmerongen, Mitchell, Bahnmaier, Moffit
2017 Tacoma, WA C. & J. Durocher, C.Bennett, C. Lovejoy, Todd Yamaguchi
2018 Portland, OR Aaron Kilfoyle
2019 Spokane, WA Stacey Nauman
2020-21 Cancelled due to Covid
2022 Portland, OR