Category: Hired

Oklahoma State head coach Travis Ford welcomed the addition of athletic trainer John Erwin to the Cowboy basketball family. Erwin spent the last two years as the Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine at Southeastern Louisiana, where he work with the football program and managed the sports medicine department.

Prior to his time in Hammond, La., Erwin spent the previous four seasons as the athletic trainer for the Georgia Southern men’s basketball team, while also working with men’s and women’s tennis and softball.

Raised in Houston, Texas, Erwin is a certified and licensed athletic trainer and is a certified performance enhancement specialist and correctional exercise specialist.

Erwin earned his Master’s of Science degree in Athletic Training from Arkansas State University in 2009. While in graduate school, Erwin assisted with the athletic training duties for the Red Wolves football team and their 12 other sports programs. In addition to his experience with collegiate athletics, Erwin served as the first athletic trainer for Arkansas State’s ROTC program, primarily responsible for the program’s physical training coverage. Erwin obtained physician coverage for ROTC cadets while handling assessments, rehabilitation and reports to commanding officers.

As an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Arlington and prior to entering graduate school, Erwin served as an intern athletic trainer for the Dallas Desperados Arena Football League (AFL) team. With the Desperados, Erwin assisted the head trainer and helped prepare daily injury reports for coaches and the league office as well as handling all training travel supplies and inventory.

A four-year student athletic trainer at UTA, Erwin’s experience includes assisting with the Mavericks athletics teams and programs at three Arlington-area high schools. He also served as head athletic trainer for UCA Cheerleading Camps during the summer of 2007 after receiving his bachelor of science in athletic training from UTA in May 2007.

Erwin is a member of and participates in several local, state and national professional organizations, including the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), National Athletic Trainer’s Association, Southwest Athletic Trainers Association, and Southeastern Athletic Trainers Association.

He holds certifications from the Texas Advisory Board of Athletic Trainers State Licensure, the Georgia Board of Athletic Trainers and NASM. Erwin is certified in kinesiotape and graston technique.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.okstate.com/news/2015/7/10/MBB_0710152529.aspx

The Sturgis athletic training program stands on its own as one of the most successful in the state.

Jim “Doc” Lioy’s vision has correlated the program’s students to become doctors, head athletic trainers and graduate assistants in many states. Mackenzie Adams, 2010 Sturgis graduate and assistant athletic trainer at the high school, is adding to the list for Lioy’s program.

Adams has accepted a position to finish her master’s degree as well as be an athletic trainer for a high school in Waco, Texas.

“The cool thing about that whole process is that we provided one of our own an interim year between finishing school, getting licensed and moving on to graduate school,” Lioy said of Adams, who spent time as his assistant at Sturgis this past year. “This position for Mackenzie is a resume builder, it’s a nice option for her.”

The position for Adams is part of being a graduate assistant for Baylor University, but Adams will be the head athletic trainer for Crawford High School about 25 miles from the main campus. Adams said she loved the traditional feel of the high school when she went down for the interview.

“This is a golden opportunity, when I walked into the gym it was like an old ‘Hoosiers’ feeling, it’s very old, very traditional,” she said. “I love that classic sports environment in Texas.”

The school is comparable to Mendon or Centreville here in Michigan will fewer than 300 students. Adams said a large number of the students in the school play a varsity sport and high schools in Texas have a required class for athletes.

The class, known as an athletic period, is similar to a physical education (gym) class, but it’s more focused on the individual’s current sport for that season.

“It gives them another practice and conditioning for the day,” Adams said. “That’s one of the differences to high schools in Michigan.”

A recent graduate from Grand Valley State University, Adams said she prefers the high school ranks when it comes to athletic training. She was stationed as an athletic trainer for both baseball and track and field while on GVSU’s campus.

“There’s something about college sports that just became very monotonous, even when I was with the baseball team, and I love baseball as a sport, at that point you’re almost unfortunately waiting for something to happen so you can do your job,” she said. “The position I’m taking will allow me to be around the students on a daily basis and I like that teaching aspect.”

Lioy said he is very pleased with Adams new role, even though she will be leaving the Sturgis area. There have been dozens of Lioy’s pupils that have gone on to be successful in life through their careers related to athletic training and he said Adams will be the next one in line.

“When it’s all said and done for her, she’s going to succeed,” he said. “She’ll have her Masters, she’ll have all this experience, she’s going to be a great asset and continue the tradition.”

Adams said she’s ready to start her next chapter in life, but she will always cherish her time spent at Sturgis, from being a student-athlete to her time as Lioy’s assistant. She said Lioy always made the atmosphere a fun one, but also serious because there was a job to do.

“That’s always something I’ve admired, he truly cares about what he does and he gets the kids involved in athletic training and makes it fun for them,” she said. “It’s just one of the things I’ve learned from him — how to enjoy your job. It’s work, but he was able to show a way to turn that workplace into something that doesn’t feel like work.”

And through that work, Adams will move on to a small Texas town that once was the home of former President George W. Bush.

She was a successful student-athlete at Sturgis, but didn’t take her talents to the collegiate level. This is sort of like that, only obviously career-driven.

“It was humbling, to know people wanted me on a career-basis was exciting because it solidifies why I wanted to do this,” Adams said. “They want me because of what I’ve done, my passion for what I do. I think that really spoke to them.”

Adams begins her position at the beginning of August.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.sturgisjournal.com/article/20150716/SPORTS/150719300