MGCCC athletic trainer Danny Anderson earns national award

Rich Kopp/MGCCC

MGCCC Athletic Trainer Danny Anderson.

If you want a winning team, you need healthy players. Danny Anderson and his staff work by that motto.

A certified athletic trainer at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Anderson leads a staff of six students, including graduate assistant athletic trainer Dana Fore. The school year keeps them busy, from football and soccer in the fall, to men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball in the spring. For his work with Gulf Coast teams, Anderson was recognized this summer by the National Athletic Trainers Association as the community/junior college’s 2008 Above and Beyond Athletic Trainer of the Year. He received the honor at an awards ceremony in St. Louis, and was also recognized by the Mississippi Athletic Trainers Association.

“It’s a big honor to receive a national award,” he said. “It was especially nice to be recognized by my state colleagues. We work really hard to make sure championship teams have healthy players. A team can’t win with hurt players and no one to take care of them.”

Still, he’s quick to endorse the efforts of the entire athletic-training team.

“These student athletic trainers are essential to the sports program, especially in the fall semester,” he added. “There are just too many athletes for one person. These students help ensure each player is being watched and monitored. There are more athletes at this level. With Dana Fore on board, we should be able to take care of some sports that didn’t receive as much attention in the past.”

In the coming year, August through May, the trainers will assist almost 200 athletes on the Perkinston Campus. Anderson, who is employed by Encore Rehabilitation Inc., said student athletic trainers are on a partial scholarships and already working in their field.

“All of these students come to me looking for an opportunity,” he said. “They’re interested in the field of sports medicine. This job gives them great experience as college freshmen and sophomores. I am proud to say that over the last few years, our former student athletic trainers have moved on to four-year colleges and universities, and some were accepted in accredited athletic training programs.”