Article reposted from South Strand News
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Chris DeVault, head athletic trainer for Georgetown County’s high schools, was a finalist for the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s athletic trainer of the year award.
“To be considered for an award is a great honor and a privilege,” DeVault said. “If it were not for the many people I have worked with over the years and the people I work with now, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I am beyond humbled for even being considered for this type of award. My life has been blessed.”
A native of Tennessee, DeVault has been a certified athletic trainer for 19 years. He has lived in Georgetown County for the past 11 years working for Tidelands Health, which provides the athletic trainers for the Georgetown County School District.
He was nominated for the award by Conway High School head athletic trainer Jim Berry.
“It’s special and it means even more that I was nominated by a colleague that I don’t directly work with,” DeVault said. “It makes me see that all the work we’ve done to make things better over here is paying off a little bit.”
Berry called DeVault “a great guy.”
“He’s just one of those guys always looking out for other people and has a heart of gold,” Berry said. “He really cares about his community. He cares about Georgetown and the kids in his community. … He cares and wants to make life better for … the kids.”
DeVault collects toys every year to donate to Toys for Tots in memory of a beloved uncle, and Berry said that was one of the reasons he nominated him.
“(The association) looks for somebody who is doing stuff in their community not necessarily in their job and their school,” Berry said. “That’s something really special and I felt like he needed to be acknowledged for it.”
DeVault said one of his favorite parts of his job is the camaraderie between him and the three athletic trainers he oversees, as well as his relationships with the Georgetown High coaches.
“If I need to get something done, I call Chris. He’s way more than just an athletic trainer to me,” said Alvin “Stitch” Walker, coach of the GHS boys basketball team. “He’s a confidante, because the kids feel so confident going to him. They trust him. And he’s very open talking to parents.”
Walker said DeVault treats every student likes they’re his own child, and won’t be bullied by coaches.
“He’s going to make sure whatever happens is going to be in the best interest of a child,” Walker added. “He’ll go out of his way to make sure a child is ready.”
DeVault said he enjoys helping injured athletes get back on the field or court.
“It’s great to actually see the progression of athletes during rehab, and after an injury, and to be able to help them get back to playing their sport,” he said.
Some school districts don’t have full-time athletic trainers. DeVault said he believes the fact that the Georgetown County School District has a full-time athletic trainer assigned to each high school sets the district apart.
“We want to make sure (kids) are afforded the health care they need,” DeVault said. “Ninety percent of the kids we see probably don’t see anybody in the health field but us.”
DeVault was an integral part of the district receiving the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Safe Sports School award in 2015. At the time, only 15 South Carolina high schools, including all four in Georgetown County, had earned the First Team designation.
It was a proud moment for DeVault.
“What we’ve done over the past couple of years with the Safe Sports Schools program helps put the parents at ease that we are trying to do our best for the kids,” he said.
Since DeVault and the other athletic trainers work for the hospital, they’re not off for the summer like teachers and students. He’s still at the school working with athletes.
But his schedule is a little less than the 60 to 70 hours a week he works during the school year.
“You’ve got to have a passion for the job or you kind of get burned out real quick,” he said.
In naming DeVault a finalist, the association profiled him in its publication and singled him out for creating quality athletic training services in Georgetown County’s high schools.
“As the head athletic trainer at Georgetown High School, DeVault has made it his mission to provide quality athletic training services to the county’s student-athletes by placing full-time athletic trainers in each of the four high schools and organizing the Safe Sports School application process,” the article said.