Duncan Named WVATA Athletic Trainer of the Year
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – West Liberty University Athletics Healthcare Administrator and Head Athletic Trainer Jerry Duncan has been selected as the 2021 Co-Athletic Trainer of the Year by the West Virginia Athletic Trainers Association (WVATA).
Duncan shares this year's award with Fairmont State University's Bob Cable. The two honorees will receive their awards at Sunday's 2021 WVATA Business Meeting in Huntington.
The WVATA Athletic Trainer of the Year Award recognizes Duncan's exemplary accomplishments in helping shepherd West Liberty University through the challenges presented by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Duncan and his staff led the way at WLU in dealing with the crisis, successfully developing and implementing numerous protocols and procedures to meet the safe competition guidelines established by the NCAA and Mountain East Conference.
"There's no question Jerry is very deserving of this award and we're thrilled to see his efforts recognized at the state-wide level," West Liberty athletic director Lynn Ullom said. "His leadership, guidance and outstanding organizational skills have been invaluable assets in helping us navigate our way through this pandemic."
Now in his ninth season on the hilltop, Duncan has filled the dual roles of Athletics Healthcare Administrator and Head Athletic Trainer for the past four years at West Liberty. As Athletics Healthcare Administrator, Duncan is charged with ensuring the WLU Athletic Department adheres to all NCAA medical guidelines and recommendations while the position of Head Athletic Trainer places him in charge of the Clinical Athletic Training staff and services for nearly 500 Hilltopper student-athletes.
Duncan spent six years as an athletic trainer with the ECHL's Wheeling Nailers, a minor-league hockey affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has also been employed as head athletic trainer for the Ohio Valley Greyhounds of the National Indoor Football League and head athletic trainer for the Bellaire (Ohio) School District. Duncan was a member of Wheeling Hospital's outpatient physical therapy department and was on the staff at CentreTown Fitness in Wheeling.
Duncan broke into the college ranks in 2011 when he accepted a position as head athletic trainer at nearby Wheeling University, where he also served as an adjunct faculty member in the Athletic Training program.
He came to West Liberty in 2013 to fulfill a dual role as a faculty member in the Athletic Training program while providing athletic training services to Hilltopper student-athletes. Duncan was promoted to the position of Senior Athletic Trainer at West Liberty in 2017 and moved into his current role the following year.
The New Kensington, Pa. native played football at NCAA Division II Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pa. He holds a bachelor's degree in Athletic Training from Mercyhurst and a master's degree in Athletic Training from West Virginia University.