Originally planned to go to medical school, Charles “Doc” Prude ended up choosing a different path that led to him to a career as an athletic trainer, spending the last 19 years as the Head Athletic Trainer at Sul Ross State University before retiring at the end of the summer.
Prude, who grew up and still lives in Fort Davis, graduated from Texas State University in San Marcos when it was known as Southwest Texas State, where he studied athletic training and sports medicine.
Prude came to Sul Ross State to pursue a master’s degree in public school administration, it was then that SRSU established the position of head athletic trainer. After earning his master’s degree, he obtained a second master’s in kinesiology to pursue the trainer at SRSU and become a member of the faculty.
Prude’s experience includes serving as the athletic trainer at San Marcos High School, Fort Stockton High School and Del Rio High School prior to accepting the position at Sul Ross State.
“I didn’t get the job at first, because I didn’t have a master’s degree, and Mike Fischer was the first athletic trainer here,” said Prude. “Dr. Chet Sample was the athletic director here at the time, and he knew I was a graduate student in athletic training. I was self-employed for three years while I was attending graduate school, and after I finished, I became the full-time athletic trainer and became an instructor in the Department of Kinesiology, and I did it for 19 years.”
Prude has many good memories of his time at Sul Ross State, but a few stand out. “The 2012 football season we had with Dominique Carson and the rest of the team was very memorable,” said Prude.
The Lobos finished the season at 5-5 while leading Division III teams in offense, averaging 581.5 yards per game, and ranking fourth in the nation scoring 48.8 points per game.
Prude also fondly remembered the Sul Ross State men’s basketball teams coached by Doug Davalos, in particular the 2003-04 team that won the American Southwest Conference championship, and won their first two games in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament, advancing to the Sweet 16.
While at SRSU, Prude has seen the athletic program progress by leaps and bounds. “I was the athletic trainer when the training room was a renovated concession stand, and Graves-Pierce was the main gymnasium,” said Prude. “We’ve come a long way. The Gallego Center is great, and the new field house is quite a step up, it’s a very nice facility.”
While he will no longer be a fixture on the sidelines at Sul Ross State, Prude hopes to keep in touch. “I’ll be ranching, that was my hobby,” said Prude. “I hope to make it back for a few games.”
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.ascsports.org/news/2015/8/25/MXC_0825150045.aspx