INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) has named all 15 member institution athletic training staffs as the 2021 recipients of the Dr. Thomas Kearns Service Award, it was announced Wednesday by the Conference office. They were formally recognized this afternoon at the Fall Meeting of the league administrators, as Maryville University Head Athletic Trainer, Scott Harley, and University of Missouri-St. Louis Director of Sports Medicine, Tim Herlihy, were in attendance to accept on behalf of the other 13 schools.
The Dr. Thomas Kearns Service Award is presented to an individual or group that has contributed to the success of the GLVC, as it relates to the NCAA Division II attributes of learning, balance, resourcefulness, sportsmanship, passion, and service.
This is the first time in the 11-year history of the award that more than two individuals have been honored in the same year after a strong desire by the GLVC Council of Presidents, Athletics Directors, Faculty Athletics Representatives, and Senior Woman Administrators to formally and publicly recognize the group.
The athletic trainers (AT) were instrumental in helping the Conference navigate the unprecedented challenge that the COVID-19 pandemic presented in 2020, and continues to present in 2021, while the head ATs helped create the league’s resocialization return-to-play protocol and recommendations.
Each AT staff prioritized student-athlete health and safety by assisting with testing, contact tracing, and other COVID protocols, in addition to their traditional day-to-day care and rehab responsibilities. The critical role they play on campus continues this academic year with both new and familiar challenges.
The GLVC Service Award is named in honor of Dr. Thomas Kearns, who was Northern Kentucky’s faculty athletic representative for 23 years and provided unparalleled service to the GLVC during that period. Kearns served the GLVC as both treasurer and president during his tenure at NKU and assisted with the budget reporting system and the current revenue sharing policy. He spearheaded the league’s first major expansion, wrote the GLVC Hall of Fame guidelines, served on the initial GLVC Awards Committee and developed and maintained the GLVC Handbook. Kearns spent countless hours developing the GLVC into one of the premier NCAA Division II athletic conferences.
The award was first presented in 2011 to Northern Kentucky’s Kevin Listerman, and has since been awarded to SIU Edwardsville’s Eric Hess (2012), USI’s David and Lois Stevens (2013), Kentucky Wesleyan’s Roy Pickerill (2014), USI’s Ray and Cindy Bippus (2015), Doug McCarty and Dan Cunningham (2016) of the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Illinois, Saint Joseph’s College’s Bill and Teresa Massoels (2017), Missouri S&T’s John Kean (2018), and University of Indianapolis’ Larry Sondhaus (2019). The 2020 award was not presented due to the COVID-19 pandemic.