Tanya Dargusch will be recognized by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association for her work, on and off the field
When Tanya Dargusch was a senior in high school in 1982, she injured her right knee shortly before the track long jump state sectional championship. Refusing to see a doctor and convinced she could take care of it herself, Dargusch said she tried to compete and faulted three times. A few years later in college, Dargusch learned she had torn her ACL, a tissue connecting the thighbone to the shinbone at the knee. It was this experience that jumpstarted Dargusch’s interest and passion to become an athletic trainer, a career that this month earned her a spot in the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame as Washington Township High School’s head athletic trainer.
According to the NATA website, www.nata.org, the Hall of Fame recognizes athletic trainers who “exemplify the mission of NATA through significant contributions that enhance the quality of health care provided by athletic trainers and advance the profession.”
To be eligible, athletic trainers must be in good standing and have been board certified and a member of NATA for at least 30 years.
Dargusch not only works with students daily on and off the field, but also is a national advocate for athletic trainers in the secondary school setting. In a release, the NATA referred to Dargusch as a “game-changer” within the profession.
Dargusch has worked on the NATA Council on Employment, helping to lead a national market penetration plan to get athletic trainers in high schools and secondary schools across the nation.
“New Jersey is fortunate because 97 percent of our schools have an athletic trainer,” Dargusch said. “Schools in the Midwest and West coast don’t have as many, and it’s so important to help impact the health care of students while they compete.”
Dargusch said the plan encompassed education for athletic trainers, administrators and Board of Education members, administered a national survey, and had her speaking all over the country to athletic training organizations to provide tools and create positions in their area.
Dargusch is the chair of the District Secretaries’ and Treasurers’ Committee, and has helped to create best practices guidelines and templates for organizations, as well as legislatures to follow. She was the first female elected as an executive board secretary for District Two, which covers Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. Dargusch is also a NATA representative with the American Academy of Family Physicians, resulting in the introduction of athletic training in a physician practice setting on a national level, and has worked on a scholastic book project with the goal of motivating students to “get up and move.”
According to the school district’s release, Dargusch is a member of the Athletic Trainers Society of New Jersey Hall of Fame, the New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the winner of several awards, including the 2015 Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer award from NATA.
“I wanted to be that person that worked with students and helped them get back on the front lines,” Dargusch said. “It is a really huge reward when you have a student that sustained a serious injury and you work with them, they get rehabbed and back on the field, and you see them score the first goal, or touchdown, and their excitement is shared with you.”
Prior to joining Washington Township High School in 1988, Dargusch was one of the first women athletic trainers to work in an occupational and industrial setting.
Dargusch is one of seven from across the U.S. being inducted later this month, four of whom are female. This year will make a total of 310 NATA Hall of Fame members, 19 of whom are women.
“You don’t do it because you want to be in the hall of fame, you do it because you want to make a difference,” Dargusch said. “This is such a humbling experience.”
According to Dargusch, athletic trainers work with any type of active individual in any type of setting, such as high schools, occupations, government, clinics and more. Athletic trainers provide preventative care, injury care, emergency rehabilitation and reconditioning. Dargusch said her primary focus is on injury care, from sprains and heat illnesses to average illnesses and flus.
“Tanya is the consummate professional, extremely knowledgeable and caring. She has provided Washington Township High School with outstanding athletic training services for three decades,” said Kevin Murphy, WTHS director of athletics and assistant principal. “Her selection to the NATA Hall of Fame is a testament to her professional career as one of the best athletic trainers in the nation.”
Dargusch will be inducted to the NATA Hall of Fame on June 28 in Houston, Texas.
