Article reposted from Columbia Athletics
Author: Columbia Athletics
Columbia University Associate Athletic Director for Sports Medicine and Head Athletic Trainer Jim Gossett has been inducted into the Eastern Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame and ’49 Club, the organization announced on Monday. He was honored before nearly 1,500 athletic trainers, athletic training students and other healthcare providers at the EATA’s 70th annual awards banquet held Saturday evening at the Sheraton Hotel in Boston.
The EATA’s ’49 Club was established to recognize illustrious members of our profession whose contributions have been significant, substantial and long-standing. These individuals have shaped the profession through their exceptional accomplishments and dedication to service, leadership and professionalism. This award is considered the highest honor presented at the EATA Annual Meeting.
One of the best-known and highly honored athletic trainers in the nation, Gossett is in his 39th year at Columbia. He administers a staff of eight full-time assistants that work with all 31 Columbia teams. He has worked with most of Columbia’s teams but has been particularly identified with football, soccer, fencing, rowing and wrestling.
As a well-known athletic trainer in the New York Metropolitan area, Gossett was selected to serve as a spokesperson for Gatorade, Inc., and the National Athletic Trainers Association. His role is to promote healthy practices to prevent heat-related illness during the hot weather months, and to serve as a resource, including on-air interviews with CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox television affiliates in the New York area. The New York State Board of Regents reappointed Gossett to the State Committee for Athletic Trainers. His 15-year appointment was to the State Board for Professions, which regulates athletic trainers in New York State.
On the national scene, Gossett worked as the head athletic trainer for the United States fencing team in the 1991 World University Games in Sheffield, England and spent two seasons as the athletic trainer of the U.S. National Lightweight Crew. He was the athletic trainer for rowing at the 1988 Olympic Sports Festival and for track & field at the 1987 Festival and Pan American Games. He also spent four summers as an athletic trainer for the ABCD/Nike basketball camps.
In 2004, Gossett was presented the Dan Libera Service Award for outstanding contribution to the Board of Certification. He was honored by the National Athletic Trainers Association with the Most Outstanding Athletic Trainer Award in 2003, for which he was nominated and chosen by his peers, and received the All-American Football Foundation’s Outstanding Athletic Trainer Award. Previously, he had been honored by the New York State Athletic Trainers Association with the Thomas J. Sheehan, Sr. Award, its highest honor, and by the Eastern Athletic Trainers Association (EATA) with the Joseph A. Blankowitsch Award. A former president of the EATA, he was further honored with the 1994 Cramer Award for outstanding service, presented by Cramer Products in conjunction with the EATA.
Gossett was one of the original athletic trainers selected as an “Eye in Sky” for the National Football League. His role over the past six years has been to spot mechanisms of head and neck trauma during the New York Giants home games. As part of the NFL’s attempt to identify concussions sustained during games, Gossett’s role has continued to evolve and the program has grown. Gossett was privileged to be selected to work at both Super Bowl LXVII in New Orleans and Super Bowl LXVIII in New Jersey.
An Indianapolis, Ind. native, Gossett attended Indiana State University, graduating in 1978. He joined the Columbia staff in August 1979, shortly after receiving his master’s degree from the University of Arizona.