NATA Hall of Fame

1930 - 1999

Jim Goostree, a diversified college athlete, signed on as head athletic trainer at the University of Alabama in 1957, one year before the arrival of Paul “Bear” Bryant. After 27 years as head athletic trainer, Goostree assumed the role of assistant athletic director at the university. In 1987, he was promoted to executive athletic director and helped create Alabama's donor program, Tide Pride. Additionally, he supervised the building and upgrading of athletic facilities including Bryant-Denny Stadium before he retired in 1993.

James “Doc” Dodson's first athletic training job was at Midland (Texas) High School. He accepted it in 1959 and remained there until his retirement over 30 years later. The first high school athletic trainer to serve in the World Olympics (Munich, 1972), Dodson received the prestigious Frank Medina Award in 1984. His family was chosen as Midland's “Family of the Year” in 1982, and he now works at West Texas Orthopedics.

Lew Crowl's Sports Injury Center was one of the first in the country. From 1961 until he opened his clinic in 1969, Crowl was the head athletic trainer at Sacramento State University. After beginning his career as a student under Ernie Biggs, he was an athletic trainer for the U.S. Olympic Team at the 1968 Games in Mexico City and at the 1972 Games in Sapporo, Japan. Now retired, he works occasionally for HealthSouth in California.

1927 - 1986

John Sciera logged a progressive and influential career. He graduated from Cortland State Teacher's College in 1952, landing at SUNY-Cortland in 1965. Under Sciera's leadership, Cortland became the first college in New York to offer an athletic training curriculum. He was also a driving force behind the movement to ban spear-tackling and other harmful practices from football. In 1976 he founded the New York State Athletic Trainers' Association and served as its first president.

1922 - 1984

Gene Paszkiet is remembered as a dedicated and concerned athletic trainer who spent 31 years at the University of Notre Dame. A native of Indiana, Paszkiet entered Notre Dame as a student in 1946. After playing freshmen football, he joined the Irish athletic training staff as a student assistant. In 1952, he was named athletic trainer of all teams at Notre Dame. Paszkiet helped five Heisman trophy winners stay healthy. He also was a recipient of numerous awards during his years at Notre Dame.

1929 - 1989

Kerkor Kassabian graduated in 1952 from Northeastern University in Boston, where he developed an undergraduate curriculum program in athletic training. In 1979, Kassabian helped found the Athletic Trainers of Massachusetts and was elected as the group's first president. He led negotiations for state licensure. Kassabian co-directed the Boston Marathon Sports Medicine Seminars in 1977-82 and was a head athletic trainer for the marathon from 1978-82.

In 1953, Charles Demers graduated from the University of Massachusetts and went to work for several minor-league baseball clubs. In 196r, he became head athletic trainer at Deerfield Academy, where he has remained until retiring. He was coordinator of athletic therapy for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid and for several other international competitions. He now lives in Massachusetts.

1924 - 2006

Hal Biggs made it a point to stay active and involved during his career. Following a three-year stint in the Army, where he was a medical corpsman, Biggs completed his bachelor's degree at Ohio State University in 1948. In August of that year, he became head athletic trainer and instructor of physical education at Bucknell University, where he remained until retiring.

1918 - 2006

Jack Aggers was a familiar figure in his home state of Wyoming and in NATA. He graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1950, returning as head athletic trainer eight years later. Aggers concentrated on generating interest among students, participating in a student workshop for 23 years. He was an NATA board member and an ambassador for athletic training in Canada and Europe.

1913 - 2005

Bruce Vogelsong retired after 34 years, leaving an impressive record of service as a state and conference leader. He got his medical training during World War II and served for the next 16 years as athletic trainer at a Pennsylvania high school. Vogelsong also served more than a decade at Dickinson College and as a part-time athletic trainer for the Washington Redskins.