Robert Casmus, head athletic trainer at Catawba College since 1990, has been named Division II Head Athletic Trainer of the Year by the College/University Athletic Trainers Committee of the National Athletic Trainers Association. He will be formally recognized at the associations annual meeting in late June in Anaheim, Calif.
Casmus has overseen the care of student athletes while also teaching in the physical education/athletic training area. He has also been instrumental in fundraising for the athletic training program to add key equipment and make other improvements. And he has spearheaded several community relations projects for Catawbas student athletic trainers, including an annual Red Cross Blood Drive.
In 2006, the N.C. General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight, appointed Casmus to the N.C. Board of Athletic Trainer Examiners. This board, authorized by the General Assembly in 1997, issues the occupational licenses to athletic trainers in North Carolina.
Casmus earned his undergraduate degree in health education from Temple University in Philadelphia and his graduate degree in exercise and sport sciences from the University of Arizona in Tucson. After moving to North Carolina, he was head athletic trainer for five years at Chowan College in Murfreesboro before moving to Catawba.
Casmus is a nationally certified athletic trainer through the Board of Certification in Omaha, Neb., a licensed athletic trainer in North Carolina and a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association and the N.C. Athletic Trainers Association. He also serves on the board for the NATA Research and Education Foundation and is a member of the Board of Certification Examination Development Committee.
He and his wife, the former Teresa Moore, live in Salisbury and are parents of son, Will.