In 1987, shortly before graduating from Utah State University with a bachelor's degree in biology and exercise science, Jim Thornton, Clarion University's head athletic trainer and director of sports medicine/athletic training since 1990, received the following advice from Dale Mildenberger, his mentor and Utah State's head athletic trainer: “Be involved in the profession.”
 
 
For nearly a quarter century, Thornton has embodied these words and will reach a new professional milestone in June 2012 when he is installed as president of the National Athletic Trainers' Association at the 63^rd NATA Annual Meeting and Clinical Symposia in St. Louis.
 
 
“I'm incredibly honored for one thing to have the confidence of the NATA membership,” Thornton said as part of a cover story for the November edition of NATANews. “I'm excited, and confident, but I'm also extremely humbled by it.”
 
Thornton began his NATA service on the District Secretary/Treasurers Committee in 1998 and eventually became the District Two director in 2005. He served on the board of directors for six years.  In 2008, he received NATA's prestigious College/University Athletic Trainers' Committee's Division II Head Athletic Trainer of the Year Award.
 
As NATA president, Thornton is particularly interested in expanding the presence of athletic trainers in secondary schools and colleges.
 
 
“When you consider that so many secondary schools are sorely in need of a full-time athletic trainer and so many college athletic trainers have quality of life issues, there are areas that need to b e addressed with more focus.”
 
 
He will also work to advance the profession in emerging settings, including the military, performing arts, and as physician extenders.
 
 
“Those settings are important for two reasons,” he said. “First, they are athletic trainers providing athletic training services to populations that have never had one before.  The second thing is that they provide an opportunity for a lot of people to have a work schedule that fits better into the lifestyle and family life.” 
 
At Clarion, Thornton is a faculty member for the Athletic Training Program, which is offered jointly by Clarion and California University of Pennsylvania.  It consists of 120 credits and can be completed in four years. Of the 72 credits which must be completed in arts and sciences, all but 22 are core classes in athletic training. Forty-eight credits are required in general education to fulfill the requirements of both the bachelor's degree in liberal studies at Clarion and the bachelor's degree in athletic training at California.
 
Thornton is also the chief organizer and chef for the Clarion University Wild Game Dinner, a fundraiser that benefits the George Garbarino Athletic Scholarship Endowment.  More than $225,000 has been raised since 1999 as a result of the event.  For the 2010-11 academic year, George Garbarino Athletic Scholarships were awarded to 15 student athletes, both male and female.
 
For his fundraising efforts, Thornton received the 2011 Alumni Association Distinguished Volunteer Award.
 
While at Utah State, Thornton was assigned to the wrestling team as an athletic training student, where he worked with head coach Bob Carlson.
 
After completing his bachelor's degree, Thornton moved to Stockton, Calif., to complete his post-graduate studies at University of the Pacific, where he worked as assistant athletic trainer. In the meantime, Carlson, a native of DuBois, Pa., returned to Pennsylvania and took a position as Clarion University's athletic director. When he found himself in need of a head athletic trainer, he gave Thornton a call and let him know the position was available.
 
The rest, as they say, is history.
 
"I grew up a long ways away, and my family is a long ways away, but Clarion is home now. I've been here 21 years," he said. "I can't imagine - as an athletic trainer and as a dad with three daughters that spend a lot of time here, too - a better job situation, life situation, home situation than Clarion. The university has been very, very good to me."
 
The National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) is the professional membership association for certified athletic trainers and others who support the athletic training profession. Founded in 1950, the NATA has grown to more than 30,000 members worldwide today. NATA is composed of ten districts. Each district has a director and other officers. The 10 district directors comprise the NATA's Board of Directors – along with NATA's president, vice president and secretary/treasurer
 
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