Heather Heidel leads the Delaware Athletic Trainers' Association. She has spent half of her career serving on the state association in Delaware.

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What is your AT Story?

When did you get introduced to Athletic Training? During my high school sports career, I was often injured, and the AT became a mentor to me.

A surgery in my junior year led to my not playing basketball as a senior.

Did an internship as a senior

Where did you go to college? UD & Cal U of PA

Where was your first job? Tidewater Physical Therapy in Milton, DE

How long have you been practicing? 16 yrs

When did you get involved with the Delaware Athletic Trainers Association?

In my 7th year as a secretary for 4 years

The past two years, the president-elect

What is a unique aspect of Athletic Training in your state?

I know almost all of the ATs in our state

We are 1.5 hours from top to bottom

What is a big challenge for Athletic Trainers in Delaware? Turnover rate

Turnover rate

Funding for positions

The long-term hires are through the district rather than a clinical outreach.

In 2024, you had the Block grant to fund ATs in every school.  Can you talk about that?

2 million dollars annually 

It is divided among the public schools based on enrollment and is only allowed to be used for hiring an athletic trainer.

We have used a lot of the AT Your Own Risk data to educate lawmakers.

If you had to pick another state to live and work in which one would it be and why? Hawaii

They mandate ATs, and I love the beach.

You're recruiting ATs to work in Delaware…what is your sales pitch?

We have a lot of young ATs and a lot of mentors.  We are small and tight-knit

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