Mount Royal recognized at annual athletic therapy awards

It's an Olympic summer, and that means that for several weeks the world's most elite athletes will be attempting to break records, surpass personal bests and come together to compete for gold.

No doubt most, if not all, of these athletes have worked with an athletic therapist at one time or another - a skilled person, trained to help the individual prevent injuries or to help heal them when they occur.

But a person doesn't have to be elite in a sport to require assistance to heal; any active individual may find themselves in need of a qualified athletic therapist. In an important and growing field, there is a high demand for skilled support.

For almost 60 years, the Canadian Athletic Therapists Association, or CATA, has been the certifying organization for the practice in Canada. They support the profession through advocacy, education, and research.

Mount Royal's Bachelor of Health and Physical Education - Athletic Therapydegree is designed to meet accreditation requirements of the Canadian Athletic Therapists Association, which ensures athletic therapy education has the overall resources to produce an entry-level professional who can meet accepted standards of athletic/active patient care.

Each year CATA recognizes and celebrates outstanding athletic therapistsby honouring the best in the field with various awards. In 2024, four individuals from MRU were selected for various honours.

Athletic therapy graduate Dariana Al-Salam received two prestigious awards and is now working with the Calgary Stampeders. Photo courtesy of Dariana Al-Salam.

Dariana Al-Salam

Scholarship and Student Leader Awards

Al-Salam, who graduated with a Bachelor of Health and Physical Education - Athletic Therapy this spring, was the recipient of two awards - the Scholarship award and the Student Leadership Award.

Dr. Mark LaFave, professor, PhD and program director of MRU's athletic therapy program in the Faculty of Health, Community and Education, says he's not surprised at Al-Salam's success. "She's won several leadership awards due to her constant positivity and professionalism in our program. She was a phenomenal student, but at her core, she is a wonderful, kind, generous human being. And she brings all those qualities to every interaction with her classmates and her professors."

Al-Salam says her interest in the field of athletic therapy grew from personal experience.

"I played soccer growing up and I was constantly in and out of the physiotherapist's office for ankle injuries," she explains. "At the time, I had no idea that athletic therapy was a profession - I assumed that the only people working with athletes were sports medicine doctors. As I was finishing my business degree, I met someone who told me they were taking athletic therapy at MRU and that her degree would provide her with the education and training to work with teams in the field."

A few short years later, Al-Salam was part of the program at MRU, and she says there are several factors that provided a positive experience at MRU. "The small class sizes are a difference-maker in a program that involves learning hands-on skills." She continues, "All of the professors in our department are clearly passionate about teaching and helping us get what we want out of the program."

Al-Salam says that she learned in the business world that networks are very important.

"At MRU, all my professors were willing to share their connections and make introductions to other ATs, and everyone that I was introduced to was equally as willing to meet with me and answer questions I had about their experience in the industry."

Al-Salam is already at work with the Calgary Stampeders' Athletic Therapy Team, where she will stay until the end of the 2024 CFL season in November. "It was one of my goals to work with a CFL team," she says, "but getting to do it with my hometown Stampeders was truly the dream."

Assistant professor Khatija Westbrook, PhD, was named to the Canadian Athletic Therapy Association's (CATA) Hall of Fame this year.

Khatia Westbrook, PhD

Hall of Fame

Her colleagues call her Tija, and for more than 25 years, Khatia Westbrook, an associate professor, has been a practicing physiotherapist and athletic therapist.

Over the years, Westbrook has espoused the importance of ethical and professional practice in the field, and her efforts to create a welcoming environment for both patient and practitioner have been recognized.

"Tija has done many things in her career for varsity athletes and/or national team athletes," Lafave says. "However, her leadership in the 2SLGBTQIA+ space is probably her greatest accomplishment. She was the first-ever chair of the EDIA Committee for the profession (CATA) and works tirelessly to support both therapists and patients in this regard."

On hearing her name called at the CATA awards ceremony in May, Westbrook and the other inductees for the 2024 award were called up on stage with previous inductees. "These were all people who I've admired and looked up to for their lifelong contributions to the profession of athletic therapy for years," she says. "It's hard to imagine that I was on stage with them. They all said, 'welcome to the club,' and it feels such an honour to have joined them."

Cougars Athletics' Head Athletic Therapist, Kerri Downer, received CATA's Distinguished Educator Award.

Kerri Downer

Distinguished Educator Award

Kerri Downer is the MRU Cougars' Head Athletic Therapist and is directly connected to the athletic therapy program. In her role she oversees two full-time staff, and her team helps to supervise up to 15 students from the program in any given year.

Lafave calls her "a quiet leader among all clinical educators for our program. She is extremely generous with her time and energy to help build both student capacity, but also other clinical educator supervisory capacity," he says.

"She is constantly trying to improve systems that make for a rich and healthy learning environment for students and that is the main reason she won the Distinguished Educator Award."

Ernesto Marrocco received CATA's Memorial Award, which goes to an active living member who has demonstrated humility, empathy and commitment to the athletic therapy profession. Photo courtesy of the B.C. Lions.

Ernesto Marrocco

Memorial Award

Despite its name, the purpose of the Memorial Award is to recognizes an active living CATA member who demonstrates "humility, empathy and commitment to the athletic therapy profession" as well as "the memory of deceased members who passed away while working as a Certified Athletic Therapist."

And Ernesto (Ernie) Marrocco is very much alive, and very busy these days in his role as an athletic therapist with the BC Lions in 2022 as an intern while still in school at MRU.

Marrocco first learned about athletic therapy as a student trainer with the UBC Men's Varsity Hockey Team. He says two athletic therapists who served as mentors during that time sparked his interest in the profession. "I was fascinated with athletes, athletic injuries and the process of returning athletes to their sport as soon as possible to their pre-injury state or better," he explains. "It is compelling to work with people that can run incredibly fast, jump incredibly high, or demonstrate such strength and facilitate or even enhance their performance with my skills."

Moving into the program at MRU gave him the opportunity he needed to learn and develop. "The teachers and instructors that I was able to learn from, observe, and model at MRU are, in my opinion, the best of the best," he says. And he credits Mark Lafave, Kerri Downer, and Khatija Westbrook, among others, with his success.

"My ambition after graduation was to work in professional sports and my teachers provided me with the skills I needed to do so and inspired me to pursue my endeavors. I also felt that I was able to work with such a high-calibre level of athletes and coaches throughout my practicums with both MRU varsity athletics and University of Calgary varsity athletics that prepared me with the work ethic to work in professional sport."

Lafave sends the kudos right back.

"Ernie was a super strong student when he was here," he says. "He constantly gave our program very constructive feedback and guidance about things we could do to improve the program and athletic therapy education at MRU."

"I am incredibly honoured to have been chosen as the recipient of the CATA Memorial Award this year," Marrocco says. "I am so proud to be an athletic therapist and it means a great deal to me to be recognized by other athletic therapists whom I admire and revere."

Explore MRU's athletic therapy's program FAQs for answers to common questions.

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