New faces in athletic department bring ?experience, leadership and enthusiasm
By John McCarty
After a summer of restructuring, the UP athletic department boasts the addition of a new head athletic trainer and an assistant women's basketball coach.
Richard Bennett, the new head athletic trainer, is steadily working towards making the athletic training program the best on the west coast. The women's basketball team also benefits from new assistant coach Catherria Turner's experience, leadership, and enthusiasm.
Growing up in Syracuse, New York, Bennett was heavily involved in sports, playing soccer at Boston University. Unfortunately, his career as an athlete was cut short by numerous injuries, including over twenty broken bones, a ruptured disc and multiple knee surgeries.
Despite being sidelined by injuries, Bennett turned his misfortune into motivation by pursuing a career in sports medicine. He received his undergraduate degree at Boston University and his master's at Eastern Michigan University.
Following internships at schools such as Boston College and Harvard, Bennett worked for a year as the head trainer at the University of Albany. For the next three years he worked as a trainer at Saint Bonaventure University, an east coast school much like UP. During his time at Albany and Bonaventure, he also interned for the New York Giants.
After working at Saint Bonaventure, he worked as an assistant trainer at Oregon State University and then came to UP as the new Director of Sports Medicine.
Once at UP, Bennett and his handpicked staff started from scratch with one goal: becoming the best athletic training program on the west coast. There is certainly work to be done but as Bennett stated, "UP is exactly what I want."
Bennett's athletic background makes him an ideal trainer; his intimate knowledge of the sporting world works to his advantage alongside his admittedly aggressive approach to sports medicine. As a former athlete, Bennett knows exactly how hard to safely push an athlete so they are healthy and playing as soon as possible. Though speedy recovery is important there is an emphasis on injury prevention and adequate care focused on the mind, body and spirit.
"The difference between this year's program and last year's is like black and white," sophomore soccer player Michelle Olivier said. "Rich's approach to training is very aggressive but also very personal and very hands on. He even comes to practices and games."
Also new to the UP athletic program is assistant women's basketball coach Catherria Turner. She grew up in Tucson where she led the state in scoring and steals averaging a triple double her senior year in high school despite being sidelined by a torn ACL the previous season. Her impressive performance earned her Player of the Year and first team All-State from three Arizona newspapers. She went on to play for the University of Oregon Ducks for one year before transferring to Oklahoma State University where she led the country in minutes played.
After completing her undergraduate studies, Turner directed her natural leadership abilities towards coaching. During this time she also started her own company called Ms. Balla Sports Gear. Turner was head coach for the Tucson Miracles, an AAU girl's basketball team, from 2004 to 2006. She then moved on to Simpson College where she was assistant coach and a diversity recruiter. During her time at Simpson, Turner helped the team to a record-setting twenty-seven wins. Turner again worked as an assistant coach and a recruiter for the women's team at the University of Maine before finally coming to UP.
Now a Pilot, Turner is excited to work with Head Coach Sollers and looks forward to a promising season for Pilot Women's Basketball. She is also working towards her masters in management communication.
