Blair chosen to receive top honor for Sports Medicine teachers

Sports Medicine Teacher Dale Blair has been awarded the 2014 Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award.

“It’s a huge honor, it’s the biggest national award they offer,” said Blair.

He will be recognized at the Pacific NW Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Symposium on March 29-30, and again at the National Athletic Trainer’s Association Annual Meeting and Symposium on June 25-28. The conferences will be held in Portland and Indianapolis. Blair is one member of a group of 10 to 20 winners nationwide.

The recipients’ service to their district, and time spent in the profession are considered when awards are given. Winners must have at least 20 years of service before consideration will be granted.

Blair’s career in sports medicine began at 14 years old, and next month will mark his 40th year of participation. This is the first time he has been awarded this honor.

“This is actually my 33rd year attending, and I was going to be going already, because of [senior] Daniel Poulson, but now I have this too,” Blair said.

Poulson will be presenting a case study about blood clotting disorders at the conference.

“He deserves it, it shows how knowledgeable he is about sports med,” senior Megan Carroll said of Blair. “You can tell he truly cares about what he’s doing.”

The WHS Sports Med Program has experienced many success in the past years, finishing first in three of the last four years at the State Sports Medicine Competition. This year’s competition will take place on April 25-26 in Yakima.

“[At] the AACI National Sports Medicine Competition, we were national champions [in 2012] and last year [2013] we were second in the nation,” Blair said. “[My students] are absolutely the reason I’m here today. I’ve got great students, they’re fun, they have great enthusiasm. [This award] is a credit to them as well as myself.”

Poulson going to National Sports Medicine convention competition 

Senior Daniel Poulson has been selected to present a case study at the National Athletic Trainer’s Association Annual Meeting and Symposium on June 25-28, making him the only high schooler ever to do so.

“It’s a tremendous honor for a high school student,” said Sports Medicine Instructor Dale Blair.

Poulson’s study about Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura was selected by judges from a pool of case studies by graduate students and professors. The judges did not know the identities or school level of any candidates. Fifty-six case studies will be presented at the conference in Indianapolis.

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura is a bleeding disorder. The immune system destroys the platelets required for normal blood clotting. It is also called Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura.

“[The case study] is about a student who had a condition… basically a summary of what happened to her,” said Poulson.

Poulson has been AACI Large School Individual National Champion the last two years at the AACI National Sports Medicine Competition.

“It’s pretty cool, it’ll be fun to go to Indianapolis and present,” Poulson said. “Mr. Blair was a huge help… he found the subject, and helped me write it. It was a joint effort.”