Langham Creek High School Assistant Athletic Trainer Joseph Hebert, second right, was honored by the Greater Houston Athletic Trainers’ Society during the association’s honors and awards banquet on May 1 at Katy ISD’s Legacy Stadium. He was presented with the Bobby Gunn Award, which honors an athletic trainer’s excellence in sports medicine in addition to his or her distinguished service to GHATS.
May 24, 2022—Langham Creek High School Assistant Athletic Trainer Joseph Hebert, Cy-Fair High School Assistant Athletic Trainer Christopher Graf, and former Cypress Springs High School Athletic Trainer Denise Chuick were honored by the Greater Houston Athletic Trainers’ Society (GHATS) during the association’s honors and awards banquet on May 1 at Katy ISD’s Legacy Stadium, with each recognized for his or her commitment to the profession.
Hebert was awarded the Bobby Gunn Award, which honors an athletic trainer’s excellence in sports medicine in addition to his or her distinguished service to GHATS. Bobby Gunn, the award’s namesake, was instrumental in bringing licensure to Texas for athletic trainers and served as the first president for the National Athletic Trainers’ Association.
Herbert joined the Langham Creek sports medicine team in 2018 and has helped oversee a program that includes 10 Texas State Athletic Trainers’ Association Academic All-State honorees, five GHATS poster contest winners and a number of student trainers move on to the collegiate level.
Some of Hebert’s notable contributions within GHATS include assisting with the organization’s website redesign. He helped host the 2022 GHATS Student Workshop at Langham Creek and currently serves as the association’s secretary of the organization.
“Receiving the Bobby Gunn Award was a humbling honor,” Hebert said. “Bobby Gunn was such a leader in our profession helping Texas become the first to license athletic trainers. So, to be honored with an award that has Bobby as its namesake is a great feeling. I thank and appreciate GHATS for the honor and will continue to work to help the organization and its members reach new heights.”
Cy-Fair High School Assistant Athletic Trainer Christopher Graf was among five CFISD staff members and four members of the Cy-Fair Fire Department recognized at the Feb. 10 Board of Trustees meeting for their quick and decisive actions in helping save a life of a Cy-Fair High School student. For his actions, he was honored by the Greater Houston Athletic Trainers’ Society with the G’HATS OFF Award, which is presented to a member in the organization who exemplifies the spirit of athletic training.
Graf was awarded the G’HATS OFF Award, which is presented to a member in the organization who exemplifies the spirit of athletic training. It recognizes the actions of an athletic trainer has performed under unusual circumstances to protect those in his or her care, or for unique service performed on behalf of the profession.
Graf joined CFISD and Cy-Fair High School staff and members of the Cy-Fair Fire Department in helping save the life of a Cy-Fair High School student on Jan. 12. Two Cy-Fair coaches responded to a student in medical distress and began to deliver CPR. Graf and Cy-Fair Nurse Sherry Janecek arrived, assessed the situation and began applying an automated external defibrillator (AED). A shock was advised and delivered, and CPR resumed. For approximately six minutes from the first shock, a total of 12 rounds of CPR and two additional shocks were delivered. The student regained a heartbeat.
The student was transported to Texas Children’s Hospital, where he was ultimately discharged.
“Being recognized by my peers with the G’HATS OFF Award for being part of the team that performed lifesaving CPR and defibrillation to a Cy-Fair High School student is a true honor,” Graf said. “Our job as a licensed athletic trainer covers injury prevention, clinical evaluation and diagnosis, immediate care, treatment and rehabilitation. While we are often working with athletes to get them back to competition following an injury or providing immediate care for less critical issues, nothing is more important to us than working to make sure life-threating events are avoided and intervening when they arise. The success of Jan. 12 is a result everyone’s professionalism, diligence in training and willingness to perform when called upon.”
Former Cypress Springs High School Athletic Trainer Denise Chuick, second from right, joined six others in being honored as the Greater Houston Athletic Trainers’ Society Hall of Honor Class of 2022. Chuick served 17 years as an athletic trainer and she currently teaches health science technology at Cypress Springs.
Chuick joined six others in being honored as the GHATS Hall of Honor Class of 2022. Established in 2014, the Hall of Honor recognizes those that provided meritorious service to GHATS and the athletic training profession over the course of their careers, as well as individuals whose generosity has benefitted GHATS.
Chuick earned her Texas Athletic Training License in 1993 served her first professional athletic training job at Houston ISD’s Delmar Stadium. She moved to Cypress Springs in 1999, serving two years before moving to Spring High School. After 17 years as an athletic trainer, Chuick moved into school safety and risk management.
She returned to Cypress Springs where she currently teaches health science technology. Her honors include being awarded the Bobby Gunn Award in 2003 and being named Teacher of the Year at Cypress Springs for the 2021-2022 school year.
“The Greater Houston Athletic Trainer's Society exists to engage the local athletic training community and share in career opportunities for both the professional and the students of the trade. I was introduced to the local professional athletic trainer’s organization as a newly licensed professional,” Chuick said. “Through the networking and subsequent friendships that developed, my professional life has been forever enhanced. My years of membership and work with GHATS shaped me into the teacher and health professional that I am today. I am honored that my peers recognize me for my work and thank them for their unwavering support over the last 28 years.”
