Off the Roll

"Showing up is half the battle.", that could be Jon Wicks tag line in his athletic training career. He has parlayed showing up and going to work into working in the SEC, NFL, and currently the Big Ten with the FBS National Champion Indiana Hooisers football team. Starting out at LaVille High School and learning from Ball State AT alum Gary Hall, Jon found his future career in athletic tr...

181.3K followers on TicTok , Over 3600 days running consecutively, One run across the state of Indiana, and finally serving at the athletic trainer at the same small high school that he graduated from Kyle Parkinson is busy guy. He thought he wanted to go into physical therapy but the sports bug was too hard to get away from and landed in the athletic training world. After attending Ball State Uni...

You can tell alot about a person by looking at their contact list in their phone. Most likely David Craig has one of the most eclectic and diverse contact lists of anyone in the world. This list speaks volumes on the years of service to athlete's, coaches, weekend warriors, officials, VIP's, and athletic trainers. The 1970 Purdue Alum and 2016 NATA Hall of Fame inductee is one of the most well kno...

Who knew that learning how to buddy tape fingers would lead to a decades long career in Athletic Training? That is exactly where Jeff Carrico started in grade school thanks to his coach Pat Lewis. Jeff started to find his athletic training groove at LaSalle HS, (Cincinnati, OH) as their student athletic trainer and then on to Eastern Kentucky University to learn from NATA HOF athletic trainer, Dr....

Elkhart, IN, Muncie, IN, San Diego, CA, Melbourne, Australia, Peru, China, Mexico... What do all of these places have in common? They are places that Stacy Struble has traveled with teams and athletes as their athletic trainer. This 1993 and 2006 Ball State alum has traveled the world working with various athletes as an athletic trainer. All while working as the Co-Head Athletic Trainer at Southwe...

2024 was a hall of fame year for Vince Stilger. He was inducted into not just one state Athletic Training Association Hall of Fame but two state Athletic Training Associations Hall of Fame, West Virginia and Indiana. Well deserved honors for this Lanesville, IN native with a 43 year career in the profession. What he has packed into those 43 years is hall of fame worthy at any level. Starting at La...

In 1987 a young Beth Giesman was trying to figure out what she was going to do with the rest of her life. A chance meeting with Mark Goodrich on a campus visit at Vincennes University and learning about a profession that was new to her, turned in to over 30 years working as an athletic trainer. Small University, small classes but big AT experiences are what Vincennes offered as well as young enthu...

22 years after he started is career in minor league baseball, Tim Lentych was in Dodger Stadium, watching Brad Paisley play the National Anthem for the opening game of the 2024 World Series as the Head Athletic Trainer of the New York Yankees. It was a long way from South Bend, IN, his hometown. Tim's athletic training journey started out simple, by finding a brochure about the Ball State Athletic...

John Wooden once said "Make friendship a fine art." If that is the case then Rex Sharp is Michelangelo. It has never been about where he has been or the athletic training facilities he has designed while at those schools, or the committees he has lead or been on, or the Hall of Fames that he is currently in. It has been about the people he has come in contact with over his 45 year career as an ath...

In the early to mid 80's the Piqua, OH high school football team needed a manager. Phil Voorhis realizing that he may be a bit small and slow to be playing big time HS football in Ohio thought it would be a good opportunity to be associated with the FB team. This lead to a suggestion from a football coach that he might be interested in attending at Cramer Student Athletic Trainer Workshop at near...

Wrestling, ACL tear, High School AT, Add all this up and what do you get? Medical School right? Maybe for Scott Knerr, but a couple of Pre-Med classes changed his mind and career path. Or course he would put all of that sports medicine knowledge to use in this new path. This 1995 Ball State AT grad career journey would take him from Fort Wayne, IN to Laramie, WY and in his 30 + year career fill a...

Bill Cowgill was looking to be come an architect when he arrived on campus at Ball State University in 1990. When that major became to daunting to this Highland IN High School grad he became an architect of relationships and athletic training that lead him to become one of most respected athletic trainers in the world of men's college basketball. Each experience he built a network of athletic...

Johnathan Allen was curious. He a was curious about his Dad's ACL surgery while Jonathan was in high school. How was he going to get back? Who was going to help him with his rehab? Would he be able to do what he did before? Johnathan was curious and this led him into a career in health care. After high school he had a cup of coffee in Bloomington, IN at Indiana University but after figuring ou...

In 1975 a freshman found his way into a call out for student athletic trainers at Ball State University. Being one of the rare people to have an athletic trainer at his high school in the early 1970's he had a small understanding of what athletic trainers did. He started off with a couple of days a week of observation and then spending time with Jim Dickerson in a golf cart during the MAC cros...

In 1975 a freshman found his way into a call out for student athletic trainers at Ball State University. Being one of the rare people to have an athletic trainer at his high school in the early 1970's he had a small understanding of what athletic trainers did. He started off with a couple of days a week of observation and then spending time with Jim Dickerson in a golf cart during the MAC cros...

It is a story that is old as long as athletic training has been a profession. An injury playing a sport leads to interest in athletic training and morphs into a storied career. That was what happened to Dave Weikel his junior year in high school when a dislocated shoulder while playing football lead to a chance meeting with a PT/ATC that peaked his interest in athletic training. When searching for...

"No man is a failure who has friends." - Clarence, the Guarding Angel of George Bailey Nothing could be said truer about Neal Hazen. In fact there are many people that would consider Neal as their guarding angel. This 2023 Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame inductee is recognized by many people as a good friend and excellent health care provider. This mission to provide health care and fr...

"No man is a failure who has friends." - Clarence, the Guarding Angel of George Bailey Nothing could be said truer about Neal Hazen. In fact there are many people that would consider Neal as their guarding angel. This 2023 Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame inductee is recognized by many people as a good friend and excellent health care provider. This mission to provide health care and fr...

In 1960 a young Ken Wolfert was just trying to find some relief from his subungual hematoma on his finger. That led him into a room that said "Physical Therapy" above the door and a chance meeting with Al Hart who was the athletic trainer at Ohio University. Al treated Ken finger and sparked some interest in athletic training. Ken started help Al with the football team and soon was trave...

In 1960 a young Ken Wolfert was just trying to find some relief from his subungual hematoma on his finger. That led him into a room that said "Physical Therapy" above the door and a chance meeting with Al Hart who was the athletic trainer at Ohio University. Al treated Ken finger and sparked some interest in athletic training. Ken started help Al with the football team and soon was trave...

"I shall be telling this with a sigh. Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in the wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost That is exactly what Dr. Brian Hatzel did in 1997 when he was looking for a graduate assistantship coming out of the University of Florida undergraduate athletic training progr...

Sometimes the most unfortunate things turn into the most fortunate opportunities. That is what happened to Lori Vancza when she had the unfortunate experience of spraining her ankle but thanks to her volleyball coach taking her to NATA HOF athletic trainer/PT, Pinky Newell at Purdue University to take a look at her. It sparked a fire that has been burning for over 40 years. Starting at Purdue as a...

Baseball HOF'er Scott Rolen, Ball State men's basketball coach Michael Lewis, NCAA Div Football National Champion Matt Mauck, Indiana Senator Mike Braun all hail from the same hometown as our episode 23 guest Jason Eckerle, Jasper, IN. High achievers and great company to be associated with, Jason is no exception. He started out his athletic training journey in high school by attending 2 Cr...

How does a farm boy from Wausa, Nebraska end up with 20 years as an AT in the NBA and take care of the greatest basketball player of all time(at the time of this writing in 2023.)?  Right place, Right time.  Mark Pfeil, after graduating at the University of Nebraska, headed off to the big city of Evanston, IL to attend PT school at Northwestern University.  There he met Dick Hoover,...

In 1993 little did Steve Lubbehusen know that a student teaching assignment was going to turn long tenure at Carroll School Systems.  At the time Carroll was just a small country school north of Fort Wayne, Steve's hometown.  Steve has grown with the school and now one of 3 Certified Athletic Trainers that provide medical care to 1 high school and 2 middle schools and 20 sports.  St...