NCAA President Myles Brand stressed the importance of collegiate athletic trainers at the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) annual meeting in Indianapolis June 14, calling the participants "guardian angels" for the student-athlete.

He pointed out the unique relationship many athletic trainers have with the student-athletes they serve, and urged the athletic trainers to use that relationship to help student-athletes beyond the training room.

Brand thanked the athletic trainers for their support for recent rules changes in wrestling and football. After three deaths due to weight-loss issues in 1998, the NCAA, with assistance from NATA members and others, established a new weight-control program for wrestlers. Several heat-related deaths in football prompted change in that sport as well. Again, the NCAA worked with NATA and other groups to create the new preseason conditioning model that allows for an acclimatization period at the beginning of the season.

Though he praised the advances the group has helped achieve, Brand urged the NATA to remain vigilant in other areas. He commended the group's research into concussions, their effects and the importance of early treatment.

He also stressed the need to educate student-athletes about dietary supplements and the risks involved in using them to enhance performance.

"Use of such supplements also has the potential for (athletes) consuming NCAA-banned substances, a significant health and eligibility risk," Brand said, touting the success of the NCAA drug-education and drug-testing programs.

"I believe the NCAA and intercollegiate athletics are doing it right," he said. "The NCAA's national drug-use studies have generally shown a decrease in most drug use. Steroid use began to decrease almost immediately after the start of NCAA year-round testing."

He indicated that officials will remain attuned to the issue, and asked the athletic trainers to use their close relationship with student-athletes to send appropriate messages about performance-enhancing drugs.

He also asked for the group's assistance with the NCAA Injury Surveillance System as it moves to a Web-based format to enhance data collection and analysis, saying the information provided by the athletic trainers is invaluable.

The unique relationship shared by athletic trainers and student-athletes, Brand said, could also help fight sports wagering. He cited statistics from a recent NCAA study of sports wagering and associated behaviors indicating a serious problem among student-athletes, with a percentage of student-athletes placing bets daily.

"With percentages and numbers like these, there is no college or university in the NCAA that can safely claim there is no sports wagering problem on its campus," he said. "More than 90 percent of these student-athletes say they wager because it is fun, even though doing so is in direct violation of NCAA bylaws."

Some student-athletes, he said, even admitted taking money to play poorly in a game or affecting the outcome of a game because of a gambling debt. Students who engage in gambling behaviors also are more likely to engage in other risky behaviors.

However, the survey did show a bright spot, Brand said, in that Division I student-athletes, the focus of NCAA education efforts, were the least likely to take part in sports wagering.

He urged the athletic trainers to be alert for changes in student-athletes who could be involved in gambling or under stress because of their wagering behaviors.

"You, as in other situations, have a unique relationship with student-athletes that may help identify those most at risk as potential sports gamblers," Brand said. "Athletic trainers can play a critical role in combating the dangers of sports wagering. I invite you to do so."

Brand also committed his support to an NATA proposal that all people associated with collegiate athletics be certified in CPR, and affirmed his commitment to preserving the collegiate model of athletics, with a focus on education.

"While intercollegiate athletics is highly entertaining, I want America to understand that college sports is not like professional sports where entertainment is the product. In the collegiate model, education is key and athletics participation is a genuine contribution to that experience," he said.

Also on June 14, the NATA announced guidelines on recognizing, preventing and managing asthma in athletes. The recommendations are the result of 17 months of research done by a group of experts in the medical and research fields, to be published in the September 2005 issue of the Journal of Athletic Training.

The guidelines recommend that, among other things, athletic trainers and other health professionals:

• Be aware of the major signs and symptoms of asthma,

• Create a plan for managing and referring athletes with asthma attacks or other breathing difficulties,

• Consider allowing indoor practice facilities for athletes with asthma, and

• Schedule practices during times when pollen counts are lowest.

According to the NATA, 20.3 million Americans report that they suffer from asthma, nine million of them children under the age of 18. NATA officials also said that some studies suggest 15 to 20 percent of athletes have signs and symptoms of the chronic respiratory disease.