NATA Hall of Fame

From the classroom to the basketball court, Larry Leverenz delivered intelligence, versatility and a global perspective to athletic training. He spent more than a decade working with disabled and blind athletes while making a name for himself as a clinician at Western Illinois and Iowa. He took a position at Purdue in 1991 and served as AT for men's basketball and ATEP Director. He was CAAHEP president from 1999-2002 and was extensively involved in WFATT.

One of the youngest head ATs in MLB history, Larry Starr was the first to be certified. He worked for the Cincinnati Reds from 1972-1992 and was part of four World Series championships. Starr is known for revolutionizing the profession in pro baseball, becoming the first to implement an extensive weight-training program. He worked for the Marlin before becoming adjunct professor at Nova Southeastern and President of Starr Athletic Solutions, LLC.

An authority on athletic training education, Marcia Anderson arrived at Bridgewater State University in 1981 and helped build its ATEP into one of the nation's most respected. She has been lead author on eight books, including Foundations in Athletic Training: Prevention, Assessment & Management. Anderson is a former Journal of Athletic Training reviewer and spent a decade developing questions for the BOC certification exam.

Known as a determined leader advocate for clinical athletic trainers late in his career, Roy Don Wilson died in 1992 after battling Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Wilson worked in the high school setting before stints at The Citadel, Florida State and Kentucky. He was Head Athletic Trainer at Kentucky before moving to the Sports Rehab Clinic in Houston in 1988. He was appointed by the governors of Kentucky, Texas and Louisiana to speak on behalf of the profession.

Brooklyn native Frank Walters learned a key lesson from his first athletic training mentor, Bill Chisolm: think big-picture. He has spent a career doing exactly that - and challenging others to do the same. He has impacted ethnic diversity in athletic training, education, job improvement, athlete health care. Well known for building the athletic training program in the District of Columbia public schools, Walters now runs an outreach program in Broward County, Fla.

Many athletic trainers have fought for governmental recognition, but Keith Webster stands out in the crowd. Early on, Webster saw the value of legislative affairs and effectively lobbied NATA to make it a priority. He led the Governmental Affairs Committee for a decade and continues to push for legislative initiatives. Webster is an assistant professor and head athletic trainer at his alma mater, the University of Kentucky.

As a student at Kansas State Teachers' College, Lynn Bott quickly made a name as a fast study, a hard worker, a gifted healer. Those traits have endured throughout 20+ years at the University of Kansas and decades of volunteer service, including a successful push to gain licensure in Kansas. Now an instructor and director of sports medicine at Baker University, Bott finds his greatest job satisfaction in mentoring students.

As early as the late 1970s, Randy Biggerstaff began advocating for athletic trainers in the clinic setting. An entrepreneur at heart, the Mizzou graduate has spent 30 years opening, directing and growing sports medicine clinics and consulting businesses. Now the education program director at Lindenwood University, Biggerstaff remains a key voice in clinical and emerging practice settings.

Chad Starkey has carved a niche as an educator and visionary. As the first chair of the NATA Education Council, he led the transition to accredited curriculum. Now an associate professor and coordinator of the division of athletic training at Ohio University, Starkey has served on the Board of Certification board and is author of several textbooks and articles.

Joe Iezzi has been an athletic trainer for 30+ years, and his proudest achievements center on motivating students. A leader in Pennsylvania and a former NATA board member, Iezzi introduced changes in the Pennsylvania law and initiated a new law to be directly under the Medical Practice Act. He has been at Downingtown High School since 1988.