Timothy Neal received the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award in 2010. Neal also received the 2013 New York State Athletic Trainers’ Association Thomas Sheehan Award for his achievements in the athletic training profession in New York State and was a member of the New York State Board of Athletic Training until January of 2015.

Neal authored the “Catastrophic Incident in Athletics” guideline, and authored revisions in the “Mental Health: Interventions for Intercollegiate Athletics” guideline in the NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook. He served on the panel for the NCAA Concussion in Sport Medical Management Summit. Neal served as NATA Liaison to the NCAA Football Rules Committee from 2004-2009, writing language for the helmet contact penalty, defenseless opponent penalty, and the Horse Collar Tackle penalty in college football. He also wrote passages in the Points of Emphasis section of the NCAA Football Rules Book on concussions, hydration, and MRSA. In 2013, Tim served on the NCAA Student-Athlete Mental Health Task Force.

Neal chaired the 2013 NATA Recommendations in Developing a Plan to Recognize and Refer Student-Athletes with Psychological Concerns at the Collegiate Level Consensus Statement, and again is serving as chair of the NATA Consensus Statement, Recommendations in Developing a Plan to Recognize and Refer Athletes with Psychological Concerns at the Secondary School Level. He served on the writing groups for the NATA Pre-Participation Physical Examinations and Medically Disqualifying Conditions Position Statement, and the Return to Participation Following Musculoskeletal Injury Position Statement. He served on NATA panels on Spearing in College Football, and the Preparedness and Management of Sudden Cardiac Arrest in High School and College Athletic Programs. He also serves on the NATA Committee on Professional Ethics judicial panel.

Neal has presented at many national, state, and local sports medicine conferences and written articles on athletic training, catastrophic incident preparedness, risk management, and psychological concerns among student-athletes for many national publications. He serves on the advisory boards of Training & Conditioning Magazine, Athletic Management magazine, and College Athletics and The Law publication. Neal is a subject matter expert for the Human Performance Resource Center for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Neal received a BSEd in Health Science from Ohio University and Masters in Health Science from Syracuse University.