MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Another professional honor will soon be bestowed upon current Mulerider Head Athletic Trainer Ken Cole as the Southwest Athletic Trainers' Association (SWATA) named Cole, a 2012 Southern Arkansas University Sports Hall of Fame Inductee, as the newest member of the organization's hall of fame. The announcement came prior to the beginning of March which for the past 18 years has served as National Athletic Training Month.
 
Cole will become just the 82^nd Athletic Trainer since 1985 to be inducted into the SWATA Hall of Fame, which represents District 6 (Arkansas & Texas) of the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) and is made up of over 3,000 athletic trainers. Of the previous 81 inductees, only three have been from the state of Arkansas.
 
"These 81 pioneer leaders are not only the best in our district, but also the best in the nation," remarked Cole when asked where this honor ranks among past achievements he has received in his distinguished career. "To be selected to be among these great men and women is a great and humbling honor."
 
No stranger to career accolades, SWATA's induction will mark the third different hall of fame that Cole has been named to after receiving the aforementioned honor by SAU in 2012, which followed a 2005 induction into the Arkansas Athletic Trainers Association (AATA) Hall of Fame. Additionally, Cole was named the NCAA Division II National Athletic Trainer of the Year in 2011 and two years later he received the NATA Athletic Training Service Award.
 
Despite the regional and national acclaim which has blanketed a career that has spanned almost 40 years, Cole doesn't see one specific moment as him having "made it." "No, I don't believe I have [made it]. I don't believe I will ever think "I've made it,"" noted Cole. "It is not what I think I've done, it will be what others think I've done. I come to work every day and try hard to care for our athletes in the best way possible."
 
Cole came to SAU in January of 1989 after serving over six years as head athletic trainer and biology instructor at Bartlesville (Okla.) High School.  He began his athletic training career as a freshman in high school working with the football and basketball teams.  From that point, he served two years as a student athletic trainer for Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, before moving to the University of Central Missouri where he was both a student and graduate assistant athletic trainer while earning his B.S.E. (1981) in physical education/biology and M.S. (1982) in athletic training.

In his current position, Cole, whose work as an athletic trainer began as a student in 1973, is responsible for overseeing the coverage and care of approximately 425 Mulerider student-athletes across 14 sports in addition to serving as the Athletics Health Care Administrator for the athletic department. During his tenure at Southern Arkansas, the Athletic Training program has evolved from an internship for students into a four-year, B.S. degree in athletic training.
 
His former students have gone on to full-time positions with Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians, Anaheim Angels and Chicago Cubs, as well as the Harlem Globetrotters, the former World League of American Football, the former NFL Europe's Barcelona Dragons, and numerous rehabilitation clinics, universities, colleges and high schools. Several students have served as athletic training interns for MLB's Atlanta Braves, Seattle Mariners, Pirates, Angels and Cubs, and the National Football League's Detroit Lions and the former Houston Oilers.
 
When asked if there were any individuals that he looked up to and that helped mentor him along his journey, Cole mentioned Dr. Ron VanDam, the former Head Athletic Trainer at the University of Central Missouri, as someone who had a great impact early on in his career. "He [VanDam] would tell me when I was student, "Do what you love, do it to the best of your ability and do it where you want to be."
 
In addition to VanDam's insight, Cole credits the late former SAU Athletic Director Jay Adcox for his invaluable counsel. "He taught me to look at the whole picture, don't fret the little things that I cannot change, and do what I do best."
 
The advice that he carries with him from his mentors is evident in what he would share with younger professionals. "Athletic Training must be your passion," said Cole. "It is who we are and not a job. Be your best and get involved."
 
Cole has definitely heeded his own advice in regards to getting involved. Cole currently serves on the AATA Hall of Fame committee in addition to occupying numerous other roles within the AATA throughout his career. He was a member of the AATA Scholarship Committee from 1992 - 2012, serving as its chair during his last 10 years. He served as AATA President in 1993 and 1994, was a member of the AATA's Honors and Awards Committee, and also served on the Governmental Affairs Committee from 2005 to 2016. 
 
In April 2011, Cole was appointed by Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe to the Arkansas State Board of Athletic Training, which oversees and governs the licensure of state athletic trainers.  He rotated off the ASBAT in 2016.
 
Cole was elected in 2012 by his peers in the Great American Conference to serve a two year term as Chair of the league's Athletic Trainers Committee, and he served in that same capacity in the Gulf South Conference from 2007-2010.

In terms of contribution on a national level, Cole is a former examiner for the NATA Board of Certification national exam, in addition to serving on the Southwest Athletic Trainer's Association (SWATA) executive board, the SWATA College and University Athletic Trainers Committee from 1996-2002 and the SWATA Honors and Awards Committee from 2003-2009.  Cole was appointed to the NATA Professional Responsibility in Athletic Training Committee (2016) that deals with professional responsibilities and ethics of athletic training.
 
While his involvement has been impactful and the honors for his work plentiful, the job isn't much "work" for Cole. "Over the past 37 years as an Athletic Trainer I can say without a doubt that I have never thought of what I do as a job. This is just who I am. The relationships that I have developed with the athletes is the best part of what I do."