Young Professionals Committee
Purpose: To identify and address the interests, needs and concerns of young athletic training professionals and to facilitate communication to and from members of that group.
Contact:
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Alyssa Babcock is the Alaska state representative for the NWATA District 10 Young Professionals Committee. She was raised in Palmer, Alaska where she was a competitive gymnast for 13 years. Her experiences in that time included many injuries and setbacks without a specialized health care provider to guide her recoveries. This is what sparked her interest in athletic training, and resulted in her decision to attend Boise State University where she graduated as a Top Ten Scholar in 2013. Upon completion of her program, Alyssa moved back to Alaska with the hope to spread awareness of what athletic trainers are and how important they are to the community. She has since been an employee with Orthopedic Physicians Alaska (OPA) as an outreach athletic trainer and completed her Masters of Science degree in Exercise Science and Health Promotion (emphasizing in performance enhancement and injury prevention) through California University of Pennsylvania. Working at the schools within the Anchorage School District, along with other local athletic programs, has allowed her to make numerous community connections and educate the general public about athletic training. One of her biggest goals is to branch out to the local gymnastics clubs and be able to help those athletes train at a higher level physically and mentally. She would like to do this by incorporating preventative exercises and strength training as well as rehabilitation to help them recover from injuries as quickly and safely as possible. Her areas of interests are functional movement screening and the use of manual therapies in preventing and treatment of athletic injuries. She has recently been elected as the new secretary of the Alaska Athletic Trainers’ Association and begins her term in July. Alyssa is currently working part time while starting a family and enjoys hiking and traveling during the summer as well as skiing and sledding during the winter.
Kaleb Birney has been a member of the University of Montana Western Athletic Training staff since the fall of 2014 and currently serves as the Head Athletic Trainer. He was elevated to Head Athletic Trainer in 2016. Birney is the primary athletic trainer for the Bulldog football and men’s basketball program while also overseeing all sports. He has been a member of 3 straight Men’s Basketball National Tournament teams (2015, 2016, 2017). Prior to joining the UMW athletic training staff he served as an intern athletic trainer at Georgia State University in Atlanta Georgia while providing medical coverage to the men’s soccer, football and baseball teams. While in Atlanta he help provide medical coverage for the 2014 Division I, II, III Men’s Basketball Final Four. Birney also provided medical coverage for the Brookhaven Bucks summer baseball team in 2013. Birney earned his B.S. in Athletic Training from Wichita State University in 2012. He went on to receive his Master of Science, Exercise Science & Health Promotion from California University of Pennsylvania in 2014. While at Wichita State, Birney was a part of the Men’s Basketball 2011 National Invitation Tournament Championship team. Birney was a student athletic training intern for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2010 and 2011, Derby Twins in 2010, and the Brookhaven Bucks in 2013. He is certified as a Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES), Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES), First Aid/CPR, and Sound Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (SASTM). A native of Sublette, Kansas, Birney enjoys playing the guitar, hiking, bird hunting, and playing with his black lab Shaka.
Anne Burke (formerly Pollard) is currently an Assistant Athletic Trainer at Oregon State University and works with Men's Soccer and Women's Swimming. Prior to joining the staff in 2015, Burke worked as a Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer with Football and Track & Field/Cross Country. Prior to her time at Oregon State, Burke completed a year-long internship at Northwestern University working with the Men’s Soccer and Women’s Fencing teams. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Burke received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Athletic Training in 2012. She earned her Master’s of Science degree in Exercise and Sport Science from Oregon State University in 2015. Professional interests: Mental health, functional rehabilitation, manual therapy. Anne is a native of Westfield, Indiana, Burke is married and resides in Corvallis, OR.
Josh Holliday is the NWATA YP Rep for the state of Washington. Josh graduated from Whitworth University in 2011 and then attended graduate school at Utah State University, working with Women’s Basketball and Football, graduating in 2013 with his Masters in Sports Medicine. Josh moved back to the pacific northwest and got a job working for Work-Fit at Boeing in Everett for a year and a half. In August 2014, Josh moved to Yakima, Washington where he currently works as an instructor at Yakima Valley Technical Skills Center, teaching a therapeutic rehabilitation course for high school juniors and seniors, and provides clinical work as an assistant Athletic Trainer at Eisenhower High School.
Holliday.Joshua@yakimaschools.org