To say that responsibilities related to athletics equipment management have increased during the last three decades would be a gross understatement. Equipment managers always will issue towels, jocks and socks, but our responsibilities have evolved into so much more.

Equipment managers play a major role in the decision-making process for all aspects of equipment administration, and our profession has earned the right to be responsible at all levels of intercollegiate athletics.

In 1974, a group of equipment managers met in Kansas City, Missouri, to form an organization that would work toward developing the profession of athletics equipment management. This original gathering marked the creation of the Athletic Equipment Managers Association (AEMA).

The goals that were established by those pioneers are still the very core of the association today:

To promote a better working relationship among those persons interested in the problems of equipment management;

To develop further the professional ability of each member;

To better serve the common interest of membership by providing for free exchange of ideas within the profession;

To enable members to become better acquainted professionally through casual good fellowship; and

To work as a group to bring equipment improvements for greater safety of participants.

The AEMA is governed by an executive board consisting of 10 district directors representing the United States and Canada. The membership consists of recreational and physical education, high-school, college and professional athletics equipment managers.

Each year, the AEMA national convention offers 20 educational workshops focusing on current issues in the profession, followed by an awards banquet in which several honors are given, including the prestigious Glenn Sharp Equipment Manager of the Year Award, which is voted on by the membership.

A major goal of the AEMA always has been developing the professional ability of each member. We needed to establish an educational program that would give equipment managers a high level of proficiency in the performance of their jobs. Columbia Assessment Services was contracted to develop a certification standard for athletics equipment management. Through a role-delineation process, the following areas of job performance were identified for athletics equipment managers:

Purchasing;

Fitting equipment and clothing;

Maintenance;

Administration and organization;

Management, professional relations and education; and

Accountability for equipment.

In 1991, certification in athletics equipment management became a reality. Certification never has been a form of unionization to force recognition by the athletics community. Rather, it is an attempt to improve the profession of athletics equipment management through education. We are confident that we will earn our recognition through a higher degree of job efficiency. To be eligible for testing, a candidate must be a four-year college graduate with two years' non-student employment in the profession; a high-school graduate with five years' non-student employment in the profession; or a four-year college graduate with 1,800 hours of documented student employment.

There currently are 505 certified athletics equipment managers. Our annual test numbers have consistently been above 60. Certification is bolstered by a host of other programs and initiatives. The association has established a resource center and has published a certification manual. The AEMA also has developed an annual publication called the AEMA Journal, written by professionals in the field of equipment management, and a national newsletter published three times a year.

The association also has a Web site (www.aema1.com) and an online discussion group (aema-disc@
aema1.com), which consists of equipment managers across the United States and Canada. Our state-of-the-art national office was opened last January in Freeville, New York.

The AEMA realizes that education fosters credibility. We want our profession to appreciate the highest level of credibility that we can achieve within the athletics community. The fact that we have two representatives on the National Operating Committee for Standards of Athletic Equipment (Ken Hart from the University of Richmond and Terry Schlatter from the University of Wisconsin, Madison) and one representative on the NCAA Football Rules Committee (Mike Royster from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga) are indicators of the progress of how our profession is appreciated. Equipment managers routinely occupy advisory committee positions for major manufacturers of athletics equipment.

Proper fitting of protective equipment is a lot like risk management. We hope that all areas of equipment management are properly addressed, but keeping our student-athletes safe always will be our primary concern.

We are confident that membership in the AEMA and our certification program will greatly reduce the risk part of your equipment management operations. If you think that you can be better in the area of equipment management, let the AEMA help. If you have any questions concerning our association and certification, contact Dorothy Cutting, our national office manager, at 607/539-6300.

Dale L. Strauf is the equipment manager at Cornell University and president of the Athletic Equipment Managers Association.