About the Presenters

Timothy Neal is a certified athletic trainer and National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) Hall of Fame member. Presently, Mr. Neal is the director of athletic training program and assistant professor at Concordia University Ann Arbor. Mr. Neal spent 35 years as a clinical athletic trainer and adjunct professor at Syracuse University, from 1979-2014.

Mr. Neal has chaired two NATA sponsored Inter-Association Consensus Statement on psychological concerns in student-athletes, the first one on intercollegiate athletes in 2013, followed by another Statement in 2015 for interscholastic athletes.

Mr. Neal also served on the writing group for the 2014 NATA Position Statement on Pre-Participation Physical Examinations and Medically Disqualifying Conditions, authoring sections on cardiac conditions, mental health, and medical clearance considerations.

Tim has authored or revised two chapters in the NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook (catastrophic incident planning, student-athlete mental health). Tim has served as NATA selected reviewer for endorsement of NCAA best practices in student-athlete mental health, and cardiovascular care of collegiate student-athletes. In 2018, Mr. Neal co-authored a year-long series of articles published monthly in the NATA News on legal, ethical, and regulatory issues facing athletic trainers.

Mr. Neal is a member of the NCAA task forces on student-athlete mental health and wellness, sleep and wellness, and served on the 2010 panel on managing concussions in student-athletes. Mr. Neal is the NATA liaison to Mental Health America, and a member of the expert advisory board of the Jed Foundation.

Mr. Neal was the chair of the NATA Committee on Professional Ethics from 2015-2019, and authored the updated NATA Code of Ethics in 2016.  Mr. Neal is certified in critical incident stress management by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF), and is an approved ICISF instructor in CISM. Mr. Neal is a founding member of the NATA ATs Care committee.

Mr. Neal was an original member of the NATA Professional Responsibility in Athletic Training committee. Mr. Neal is also on the editorial board of the NATA Athletic Training Education Journal.

Mr. Neal has authored dozens of articles in peer and non-peer reviewed journals, and has presented to numerous audiences on various sports medicine, mental health, ethical, and risk management topics.

Mr. Neal earned his Master’s degree at Syracuse University, and his Bachelor’s degree from Ohio University. Mr. Neal is a member of the Ohio University Alumni Association Board of Directors. Currently, Mr. Neal is finishing his Master’s degree in social work at Ohio University in December 2023 to become a credentialed mental health provider.