Courtesy of UTA Athletics
After a distinguished 37-year career in athletic training, Roy Rudewick, UTA Senior Associate Athletic Director for Sports Medicine, retired earlier this month.
Rudewick said his interest in athletic training developed when being an athlete when he was younger became less of an option, but he wanted to stay involved in the world of sports.
“I was a severe asthmatic, and so I was having issues breathing, but I wanted to play basketball, but I couldn’t, and so it was a way for me to stay engaged with sports,” he said. “Then the medical aspect of it started growing, and so I was an athletic trainer in high school, and then through college, and obviously became a professional.”
Rudewick, a 1989 graduate of UTA, started his career as an intern with the Houston Oilers before becoming the head trainer in 1990 at R.L. Turner High School in Carrollton, Texas. A year later, he moved to Arlington, taking on the same role with James Bowie High School.
Rudewick spent the next 16 years at Bowie before becoming the Associate Athletic Director for Sports Medicine in 2007 at his alma mater. In 2020, he was promoted to his final role, running the entire athletic training program at UTA.
“I’ve always chose to stay in the area, because that’s kind of where, honestly, my friends and relationships are the strongest at, so that’s why I stayed in the area,” Rudewick said. “Then again, the university, I’ve had tremendous experiences being here at the university as a student, as an alumnus, and then as an employee, that I’ll never forget.”
Across Rudewick’s career, he held many titles, including president of the North Texas Athletic Trainers’ Society from 2002-2004, president of the Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association from 2018-2020 and chairman of the board of the Texas State Athletic Trainers’ Association since 2022. With his role in the TSATA, he is a Region 4 representative in the National Athletic Trainer’s Association.
In those roles, he helped shape and expand policy statewide for athletic trainers.
Courtesy of Roy Rudewick
“They kind of reset the practice standards for athletic trainers in the state of Texas, because athletic training has evolved a lot, where we have athletic trainers in the military, athletic trainers in theater arts,” Rudewick said. “There’s athletic trainers working at Amazon and different companies, and so we needed to change and adapt our practice.”
Rudewick has also received many awards and honors in his field, including the 2015 SWATA Excellence in Athletic Training Award, 2016 SWATA Frank Medina Award, 2019 NATA Athletic Training Service Award and an induction into the SWATA Hall of Fame in 2022.
“What sets me apart in the field of athletic training is the fact that I don’t say no to things, whether it be challenges or opportunity, and I feel like doing that has opened the door for me in a lot of different ways in leadership,” Rudewick said.
In addition to a long, accomplished career, Rudewick was also beloved in his field. In a video produced by SWATA to celebrate his Hall of Fame induction, athletic trainers from around the state appeared to talk about Rudewick not just as a trainer, but as a person.
“Roy makes people around him better by virtue of being Roy,” Cedar Hill Independent School District head trainer Marc Megill said in the video. “If he’s unsure of the proper way to do that, or the right method, he’ll figure it out, he’ll visit with other colleagues, or figure out a way that is gonna be best suited.”
Rudewick also made impressions on his colleagues at UTA. Gina Giammanco has been a trainer for the university since 2005, and currently serves as the interim head trainer in Rudewick’s stead.
Courtesy of UTA Athletics
“There was never a day where I doubted that he didn’t care for me, not only as a person, but as a staff member, and that he would support me,” Giammanco said. “He would sit and listen to what you needed, things that you’re going through, respected your decisions, but would also offer advice in a way that wasn’t like, ‘Oh, you should do it my way,’ so I never ever thought that if I had a problem, I couldn’t go to him.”
In terms of finding Rudewick’s permanent replacement, UTA athletic director Jon Fagg said the search will span the entire university, in addition to the usual search for possible outside hires.
“We look at our current staff and see if there are candidates to replace him, we look potentially outside of our staff, on the university campus to see if there are candidates, and then we also look outside of campus in a traditional search,” Fagg said. “We’re in the process of looking and seeing what that model looks like.”
With the retirement, Rudewick said he plans to enjoy some overdue time off while staying connected to UTA.
“It’s a very time-consuming career. You’re on the job pretty much all the time, even weekends, nights, so getting some time back to do what I want to do, when I want to do it, is going to be a big reward there,” he said.
Rudewick will also finish out his leadership roles, remaining the chairman of the TSATA board until July 22, and on the board until July 2027.
“Professionally, I’ll still be very engaged on behalf of the profession of athletic training and trying to improve things for athletic trainers across the country.”
@TyRoland06