Prof Honored as Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer

David Stuckey, department head, associate professor of fitness and sport sciences, and director of the Athletic Training Education Program at Hardin-Simmons University, will be recognized by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association as one of 18 Most Distinguished Athletic Trainers in the country.

NATA is a professional membership association for certified athletic trainers and others who support the athletic training profession. Founded in 1950, the organization has grown to more than 35,000 members worldwide today.

The Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer award recognizes NATA members who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to leadership, volunteer service, advocacy, and distinguished professional activities as an athletic trainer. MDAT recipients have been involved in the service and leadership activities at the national and district levels.

The honor reflects Stuckey’s 27 years of service to the national association and the athletic training students at HSU.

Stuckey is in his 27th year at HSU, starting as head athletic trainer and becoming director of athletic training education in 1999. Stuckey also served as a graduate assistant athletic trainer at the University of North Dakota.

Stuckey holds memberships in several professional groups, including the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA), Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association (SWATA), and Texas State Athletic Trainers Association (TSATA), and is a licensed and certified athletic trainer.

He remains clinically active, working both HSU and local high school events. Besides covering HSU teams for more than two decades, Stuckey has also worked with the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ Myrle Greathouse Football Classic; in the volunteer sports medicine program of the U.S. Olympic Committee; the 2003 National Figure Skating Championships; and has presented at local, district and national meetings on topics such as emergency planning, general medical concerns, and documentation.

In June 2012, Stuckey was recognized with the Athletic Trainer Service Award. In 2006, he was awarded the NCAA Division III Head Athletic Trainer of the Year by NATA. Stuckey will be recognized and will receive the award at the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s 64^th Annual Meeting and Clinical Symposia this coming June in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The MDAT is the NATA’s second-highest award.