OXFORD, Miss. – A University of Mississippi alumnus and graduate student has been elected to represent Mississippi in the Southeastern Athletic Trainers’ Association’s Student Leadership Committee.

Tyler Myers said he is honored to represent the state for SEATA. He is excited about meeting aspiring and professional athletic trainers in Mississippi to grow his network.

“Being a part of the student leadership committee will give me access to serve as a leader, interact with peers amongst the athletic training community and be able to learn about current issues,” Myers said. “Personally, this opportunity will help me grow my network and knowledge to provide me a successful path for my career.”

Myers is in his first year of the Master of Science in Athletic Training program and previously earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science with a minor in business. During his time as an undergraduate, the native of Houston, Texas, was a pitcher for the Ole Miss baseball team.

Straight out of high school, Myers was a student-athlete at Paris Junior College in Texas. After two years there, he was recruited by Ole Miss. During his visit to Oxford, he fell in love with the small town, beautiful campus and Swayze Field. He knew then that Ole Miss was a great fit for him.

“This was a goal, coming true to play in the SEC,” he said. “I knew that Ole Miss was a great fit academically as well, as they offered a degree that I wanted to pursue within the exercise science program.”

While playing for the Rebels, Myers suffered an injury to his ulnar collateral ligament, or UCL, a ligament in the elbow. Throughout rehabilitation, he enjoyed a good relationship with his athletic trainer and developed a love for the field.

This led him to pursue a graduate education in athletic training.

The camaraderie in his class is Myers’ favorite thing about the program. He said he is grateful for the opportunities to learn that the program has provided him.

“The therapeutic modalities, equipment and cadaver machine that we have are top-tier, which is a great learning tool to allow us to be successful athletic trainers for our future,” Myers said. “The hands-on clinical hours are very important in giving us a foundation of routes that us athletic training students would like to have as a career.”

Being elected to the SEATA committee is not only a big achievement for him, but also for the UM athletic training program, he said. He believes this achievement will help recruit prospective students and grow the program.

Heather Landry, director of the master’s program, echoed Myers sentiment about what an honor it is to be selected as the Mississippi representative for SEATA.

“A position such as this will afford him the opportunity to represent our state, continue to grow and develop a skillset that will be invaluable to his future professional career, and one that will allow him to commit that same passion for athletic training that he has shown within our program,” Landry said. “His commitment to his studies, the MSAT program, the university community and his future career in athletic training is truly extraordinary and we could not be happier about this selection.”

SEATA is a regional association of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. Both associations provide professional membership for certified athletic trainers and others who support the profession.