COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – When you think of Fort Lewis College athletics, you would be hard-pressed to not think about Wayne Barger. Barger became synonymous with FLC and will now have another honor to take with him after being named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Head Athletic Trainer of the Year Friday during the RMAC Hall of Fame banquet.
"It is an honor and privilege to be selected as the inaugural Athletic Trainer of the Year. I am very appreciative," Barger said. "There are so many deserving individuals that care for the student-athletes of the RMAC, I've just done it a little longer. It has been a pleasure to work with so many of these individuals who demonstrate the passion, dedication, and devotion to ALL student-athletes, regardless of sport, school, score, and/or game outcome. The RMAC is very fortunate to have so many individuals "looking out" and doing what is best for the student-athlete's health care."
The inaugural honor was voted on by Barger's peers in the conference. He spent 22 years with the Skyhawks, working his way up the administrative ladder being promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for development, which he added in addition to his athletic training duties. His promotion came in 2012, as he took on the Skyhawk Athletic Association, corporate sponsorship program and the department's season ticket campaign.
"I am very proud of Wayne Barger. This award is richly deserved," FLC President Dene Kay Thomas said.
This isn't the first time Barger has been honored, as he was inducted into the Colorado Athletic Training Association (CATA) Hall of Fame in May of 2015 and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame in 2011. He received the Fort Lewis College Director of Athletics Appreciation Award in 1999.
"It is wonderful to see Wayne's incredible athletic training career honored with this prestigious award," FLC Athletic Director Barney Hinkle said.
While Barger did spend a majority of his career in Durango, he logged 10 years of service as an assistant athletic trainer and curriculum instructor at the University of New Mexico for 10 years.
He has extensive experience in athletic training at international and national sporting events. In 1996, he served as athletic trainer for the U.S. men's field hockey team at the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga. He also served as athletic trainer for basketball and track & field at the 1993 U.S. Olympic Festival in San Antonio, Texas, and for the U.S. junior national basketball team at a qualification tournament in Santa Rosa, Argentina, in 1994. In 1999, Barger served as the athletic trainer for the U.S. junior men's basketball team at the Junior World Championships in Lisbon, Portugal.
He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in physical education and athletic training. He received his master's degree in physical education administration from UNM in 1984.
