La Tanja Batiste Joins ECSU Athletics as Assistant Athletics Director for Sports Medicine

La Tanja Batiste

ELIZABETH CITY, North Carolina -- The Elizabeth City State University Athletic Department is proud to announce La Tanja Batiste as the new Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine.

As the Head Athletic Trainer for the Vikings, “LT” is responsible for managing the daily operations of the Sports Medicine Department and providing medical coverage for the 10 Division II NCAA sports teams and the D’Lytes Cheerleading squad.

Batiste brings over 15 years of experience to the ECSU Athletic Department. She comes to ECSU after an 11-year stint as the Head Athletic Trainer at Queens University of Charlotte. Prior to that, she served as the Assistant Athletic Trainer at Benedict College in Columbia, SC for one year.

During her time at Queens, Batiste also held the title of Senior Woman Administrator for five years. The Royals, a 17-sport plus cheer program at the start of her tenure, expanded to include men’s and women’s swim in 2011 and as of this fall their quantity will increase by one to include 20 sports with the addition of field hockey.

With the growth of the Athletic Department at Queens came the additional responsibility of supervising a Sports Medicine staff that evolved from one to five individuals. Additionally she handled the task of designing and furnishing two additional fully functioning sports medicine facilities.

LT credits her position of Assistant Athletic Trainer at Benedict College with preparing her for the aspects of athletic training that cannot be learned in the classroom. At Benedict she was one of two certified athletic trainers responsible for providing medical coverage, injury prevention and care for 13 Division II NCAA sports, including football.

Batiste’s athletic training career began as an undergraduate athletic training student at Georgia Southern University where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Kinesiology in 2000. At Georgia Southern she worked with an Eagles’ team that went on to capture the 1999 Division I-AA National Football Championship. She earned her Master’s Degree in Sports Medicine from Georgia State University in 2003 while working as a graduate assistant athletic trainer at Walton High School in Marietta, GA.

A native of Augusta, GA, La Tanja is a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. and is also a 2011 graduate and active member of the NCAA's Leadership Institute.

COURTESY ELIZABETH CITY STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION