Jan 29, 2015
Call From The Hall

The National Athletic Trainers’ Association will induct 17 individuals into its Hall of Fame at the NATA 63rd Annual Meeting in St. Louis on Thursday, June 28.

Honorees will be recognized for their work in advancing the athletic training profession, including scholarly research, clinical advancements and strong leadership. Since inducting its first class in 1962, the Hall of Fame now has 277 members. Check out this year’s Hall of Fame class…

The 2012 Hall of Fame inductees include Jeffrey S. “Jeff” Cooper, MS, ATC; Chris A. Gillespie, MEd, ATC, LAT; Dennis L. Hart, MEd, ATC, LAT; Roger A. Kalisiak, MSEd, ATC; Marjorie King, PhD, ATC, PT; John Lopez, ATC, LAT; Sally Eaves Nogle, PhD, ATC; Nicholas Anthony “Nick” Pappas, ATC, LAT; Robert E. “Bobby” Patton, EdD, ATC, LAT; John W. Powell, PhD, ATC, LAT; James L. “Jay” Shoop, MEd, ATC; Walter “Kip” Smith, MEd, ATC, LAT; John C. Spiker, ATC, PT; Jeff Stone, MEd, ATC, LAT; Bill Tessendorf, MA, ATC; Arnold Thomas, MEd, ATC, LAT; and Matt J. Weber, ATC.

Jeff Cooper, MS, ATC, has promulgated a legacy of leadership, education and advocacy during his 36 years with the Philadelphia Phillies and a World Series title. A founding member of the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society, Cooper was a two-term president, serving 18 years on the PBATS executive committee. By drawing attention to the widespread use and dangers of smokeless tobacco, Cooper is credited with helping to change the face of baseball by breaking the sport’s strong connection to spit tobacco. Cooper modeled for other professional baseball athletic trainers how to maximize Capitol Hill visits and promote athletic training to legislators.

Chris Gillespie, MEd, ATC, LAT, is director of athletic training education at Samford University where he has worked for more than three decades. Past president of the Southeast Athletic Trainers’ Association and co-founder of its annual student meeting, Gillespie also served on the NATA College/University Athletic Trainers’ Committee. As one of the first athletic trainers to support sickle cell trait screening and be an advocate for athletes with this condition, he was part of the NATA Inter-Association Task Force on Sickle Cell Trait and the Athlete and has spoken extensively and published on this topic.

Dennis Hart, MEd, ATC, LAT, began his athletic training career in 1970. He was the athletic trainer at North Mesquite High School for 33 years and has worked for the Sports Medicine Clinic of North Texas. Hart chaired the founding committee of the Texas State Athletic Trainers’ Association. He served as a TSATA regional director and was the first chair of its board of directors. An active leader in the Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association, Hart served on its executive board as Texas representative and president. He recently co-authored Texas HB 2038, Natasha’s Law, which mandates a standard of care for secondary school athletes suffering sports-related concussions.

Roger Kalisiak, MSEd, ATC, co-authored his state licensure act and wrote a proposal that expanded from one to three the number of athletic trainers at each school in his high school’s district. The only two-term president in the Illinois Athletic Trainers Association history, Kalisiak went on to be Great Lakes Athletic Trainers’ Association president and History and Archives chair, and chaired the 1993 NATA Annual Meeting scientific program. Named the 1993 NATA High School Athletic Trainer of the Year and NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer in 1995, Kalisiak also received the Hoffman Estates High School Principal’s Award for Excellence and Golden Hawk Award, and the GLATA Golden Pinnacle Award.

Marjorie King, PhD, ATC, PT, has dedicated her life to the profession. Her research and publishing activities, athletic training education accomplishments, work advancing women in the profession and clinical experience in multiple settings make her a respected mentor and much sought after presenter. King was the first woman president of the Eastern Athletic Trainers’ Association. She served as the second chair of the NATA Women in Athletic Training Committee, and was on the executive boards of the New Hampshire Athletic Trainers’ Association and the Athletic Trainers of Massachusetts. King is the current director of graduate athletic training education at Plymouth State University.

John Lopez, ATC, LAT, is the former head athletic trainer for the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts and has more than 40 years of experience at the high school, collegiate, clinical and industrial sports medicine settings. Widely known for his efforts advocating for the clinical setting, Lopez was a founding member and first chair of the NATA Clinical/Industrial/Corporate Committee and established one of the first physician extender programs in the country. Lopez is the current chair of the NATA Service Award Sub-committee and is a past recipient of the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society Outstanding Alumni Award. He is the current director of sports medicine at Coppin State University in Baltimore.

Sally Nogle, PhD, ATC, has spent nearly 30 years at Michigan State University. She presents regularly at athletic training meetings, is a textbook chapter author and product developer. Nogle chaired the NATA International and International Games Committees and served on the NATA Research & Education Foundation board. Named a San Diego State University Robert J. Moore Distinguished Alumnus, Nogle has received the MSU Jack Breslin Distinguished Staff Award, Great Lakes Athletic Trainers’ Association Outstanding Educator Award, NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award and Gail Weldon Award for Excellence, and was inducted into the Michigan Athletic Trainers Society Hall of Fame.

Nick Pappas, ATC, LAT, is known for his legislative efforts and crafted the language for the Tennessee Practice Act and the creation of the state’s Board of Athletic Trainers. He served as the charter president of the Georgia state association and president of the Tennessee association. He was instrumental in the formation of the Arena Football League Physicians and Athletic Trainers Association and has been involved as a volunteer and leader for many professional organizations and causes. Pappas works for the Florida State University Department of Athletics and teaches in the athletic training curriculum.

Bobby Patton, EdD, ATC, LAT, has served his alma mater, Texas State University, as athletic trainer and educator for half a century. A strong and committed proponent of education, Patton has developed more than 30 courses in athletic training, more than 50 lectures and presentations, and has created one of the first athletic training degree programs to receive national accreditation. Texas State University recently honored Patton with a scholarship in his name. Patton has been active in the Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association and NATA. In 1971, he testified on behalf of the Texas licensure bill, the first athletic training practice act in the country.

John Powell, PhD, ATC, LAT, is a distinguished athletic training educator, researcher and clinician whose sports injury epidemiology work has made sports safer at all levels. Powell has conducted injury surveillance studies for NATA, Big Ten, NCAA, NHL and NFL and served on the NFL Injury & Safety Panel, NHL Injury Panel and Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee. He developed the Sports Injury Monitoring System, injury tracking software for athletic trainers and was the first NATA Research & Education Foundation president. Powell is currently an athletic trainer and faculty member at Michigan State University.

Jay Shoop, MEd, ATC, is known for his keen interest in the history of the profession and reimbursement. As head athletic trainer at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, he developed and implemented an international medical poly-clinic model within the Olympic Village and established a communication process that has been utilized since at the Games. Shoop was active with instituting Georgia’s favorable licensure bill and is a member of the East Tennessee State University and Georgia Athletic Trainers’ Association Halls of Fame. Formerly head athletic trainer for the Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions, Shoop is currently director of sports medicine at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Kip Smith, MEd, ATC, LAT, began his career at the University of Pittsburgh and has continued for nearly 30 years at Indiana University, where he is currently the head athletic trainer. Smith was a Board of Certification examiner and an active NATA Ethics Committee member, helping re-write the national association’s code of ethics, and currently serves on the NATA Foundation board of directors. A past president of the Indiana Athletic Trainers Association, Smith was heavily involved in Indiana licensure and reimbursement efforts. He helped develop and pass the Indiana State House Enrolled Act 1467, which allows licensed athletic trainers to be reimbursed by insurers and health maintenance organizations.

John Spiker, ATC, PT, has spent his career as an educator at West Virginia University and as a clinic owner. He has focused on improving the athletic training profession and creating opportunities for students and young professionals. Spiker was selected as Collegiate Athletic Trainer of the Year in 1980 and Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer in 1994. He was honored by the WVU School of Physical Education as the Outstanding Alumnus in 2007 after being named to the Hall of Fame in 1993. He has served as the president of the WVU Fellowship of Christian Athletes board and has received many local civic and business awards.

Jeff Stone, MEd, ATC, LAT, past president of the Athletic Trainers of Massachusetts, has remained active with NATA District One and the Eastern Athletic Trainers’ Association, and has been the recipient of both the EATA Henry Schein/MBM and Cramer Awards. He represented District One for two terms on the NATA board of directors, and has been a long-time medical volunteer with the Bay State Games. Stone was instrumental in establishing the Rebecca Payne Memorial District One Scholarship, honoring the memory of the late athletic training student from Northeastern University. Currently, he is the head athletic trainer at Suffolk University in Boston.

Bill Tessendorf, MA, ATC, will have a legacy as an athletic trainer for his tireless efforts to advance the profession and create more opportunities for his colleagues. Tessendorf has worked as an athletic trainer in the National Football League for nearly four decades, including more than 20 years with the Cleveland Browns and a Super Bowl win with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001. Tessendorf has shown his commitment to his profession by serving as president of the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers’ Association. He was the first to represent athletic trainers on the NFL Injury & Safety Panel, advocating for player safety and injury prevention for nearly two decades.

Arnold Thomas, MEd, ATC, LAT, worked for Cypress-Fairbanks ISD in Cypress, Texas, for three decades. As the head athletic trainer for Cy-Fair High School, he assisted in the implementation of a program that provided free heart screenings for student athletes and automatic defibrillators at each of the 10 CFISD high schools. Thomas was president of both the Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association and the Greater Houston Athletic Trainers’ Society. He is one of the founders of the GHATS student workshop, the largest in the nation, and served as medical staff at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Thomas is currently a doping control officer for the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

Matt Webber, ATC, is known as a compassionate athletic trainer who cares for his students, as well as an advocate for his colleagues and profession. A president of the Arizona Athletic Trainers’ Association and the first chair of the Arizona Board of Athletic Training, Webber worked to draft and implement athletic training licensure laws and regulations in the state. In addition to his legislative efforts, he is credited with writing the bylaws and constitution of both the AzATA and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Trainers’ Association. A longtime high school athletic trainer, Webber served on the NATA board of directors and numerous committees.

“On behalf of the entire NATA, we applaud and honor the Class of 2012,” says Rochel Rittgers, ATC, NATA Honors & Awards Committee chair. “We recognize their tireless commitment, vision, passion and success in the work that they championed and continue to do. They have and are serving as exemplary examples for the rest of us to follow.”

About NATA:
National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) – Health Care for Life & Sport
Athletic trainers are health care professionals who specialize in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries and sport-related illnesses. They prevent and treat chronic musculoskeletal injuries from sports, physical and occupational activity, and provide immediate care for acute injuries. Athletic trainers offer a continuum of care that is unparalleled in health care. The National Athletic Trainers’ Association represents and supports 35,000 members of the athletic training profession. Visit www.nata.org




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