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Athletic training regulations and protocols have changed drastically over the years, and there to lead The College of Wooster through it all was Tom Love, who retired this past May after a remarkable 37-year career as the head athletic trainer.
Love, hired as the first full-timer to serve in that role at Wooster, arrived to a department in May 1982 that was configured much differently than the one he retired from in 2019. There weren't any full-time assistant athletic trainers – Wooster currently has two. That meant Love had to rely heavily on a handful of student trainers.
Over the years, Love was always ahead of the curve and at the forefront of player safety, especially when it came to concussion diagnosis and management, an area that's come under heavy scrutiny in recent years. With Love's cautious approach to concussion diagnosis and management at the center of every decision, Love most likely prevented long-term effects from brain injury in a number of Wooster student-athletes.
"(Our) more conservative management with concussions (started) well before that became industry standard," explained Love in a feature leading up to his retirement. "We found when we rushed the student-athletes back and let them play with minor symptoms, they didn't play as well and the concussions were prolonged."
In the 1990s, athletic training education took a big step forward, and the framework for many of the policies and procedures that are in place today started. Among those changes was the College doing away with the athletic training internship program for students, and aspiring athletic trainers had to attend an accredited program for their education. Licensure programs were also started, and Love was among the first 100 athletic trainers to obtain a license in Ohio in 1992.
More recently, Love's seen an uptick in student-athlete expectations, which was a welcome change for him, as are the technology upgrades in the standard of care and support system, plus access to several local orthopedic surgeons and physical therapists. Additionally, athletic trainers increased in number at the high school level over the years, resulting in more recent student-athletes arriving in Wooster already accustomed to the skillsets and services provided by athletic trainers.
"College of Wooster athletes and coaches were very fortunate to have Tom Love's excellent care and knowledge for many years," summed up men's basketball head coach Steve Moore. "Tom was outstanding in both prevention and rehabilitation of injuries. His efforts were very important for individual and team success."
A few things stood out to Love during his time at Wooster, most notably watching student-athletes mature and develop, and he "enjoys seeing how much they change over the four years."
As to his most memorable event at Wooster, well one stands out over the rest – Wooster playing in the national title game at the 1997 NCAA Div. III Baseball Championships, where Love's son, Chris, served as a batboy for the Scots and was able to line up with the team for the national anthem. Later, Love was able to work alongside daughter, Cathy, who was a student athletic trainer when she attended the College.
Outside of the College, Love was a volunteer firefighter for 10 years, coached Little League baseball for six years, and has been an active volunteer with the Kiwanis Club of Wooster and at area hospices.
Personally, Love and his wife, Rose, have two grown children and three young grandchildren.