Article reposted from The Valdosta Daily Times
Author: The Valdosta Daily Times
The Georgia Athletic Trainers Association (GATA) announced the induction of Charles R. (Bobby) Tucker, licensed athletic trainer and certified athletic trainer, to its Hall of Fame on Wednesday — the highest honor given by the association.
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at the GATA annual conference in Macon on Jan. 20.
The bulk of Tucker’s career has been spent at Valdosta State University, where he has served many roles in his time there, beginning as a student manager/athletic trainer from 1970-75.
Tucker returned to VSU as a men’s assistant basketball coach in 1978 and served in the role until 1986, when he began a 20-year run as an athletic trainer and professor for the school.
In 1990, “Coach Tucker” as he is known at VSU took on the job of faculty athletic representative for the athletic department before also becoming the department’s compliance director in 2006, all while continuing to teach for the university and serve as an athletic advisor.
He retired from Valdosta State in 2014, but Tucker continues to help out in the athletic department as an advisor. That same year, he was inducted into the Valdosta State Athletics Hall of Fame. Tucker received the GATA’s Warren Morris Sports Medicine Person of the Year Award in 2007.
The Georgia Athletic Trainers’ Association is an organization committed to education of its members and enhancement of the profession of athletic training, leading to better healthcare for the population which it serves. The GATA is proudly composed of licensed athletic trainers in many different settings.
Over 1000 licensed athletic trainers from professional, collegiate, and high school teams to industries, physician offices, and rehabilitation clinics all work together to promote and practice the profession of athletic training within the state of Georgia.