‘Doc’ wins award

    A majority of professors on campus have jobs other than teaching students why Odysseus could not get home or how to do a logarithm. Dr. Mike Martino, exercise science program coordinator, is no exception.
    Martino has been at GCSU for ten years. Recently, he was named the Warren Morris Sports Medicine Person of the Year.
    The award is given to people who promote and support athletic training within Georgia. Martino was given the award at the Georgia Athletic Trainers Association’s annual meeting in Peachtree City on Jan. 19.
    “It is always nice to be recognized by your peers,” Martino said. “The interesting thing is that’s not really my direct area. It made me feel good because it was outside my area. It showed that I have been working hard to promote the NSCA (National Strength & Conditioning Association), but it is not just exercise science, it is all people in the allied health professions.”
    Martino is a trainer, a professor and a friend to all the athletes and other students he comes in contact with.
    Jessica Greeson is a junior in the exercise science program.
    “Doc , that’s what we call him, is really enthusiastic about what he does,” Greeson said. “I can tell he enjoys promoting exercise science. It’s a privilege to work with him since he is so experienced. He is really good at what he does. I learn a lot from him and, like a lot of people, I look up to him.”
    Martino plays a lot of roles at GCSU as well as outside of the college. He acts as the strength and conditioning consultant for varsity athletic teams at GCSU and is the human performance lab director. He is currently serving with the NGCSA as the Southeast regional director and the state director for Georgia and was also a member of the USA Swimming Olympic Advisory Coaching Staff in 1992 and 1996.
    Martino’s interest in exercise science began when he was an undergraduate student at Furman University. He received a scholarship for swimming. He was named one of the top 200 athletes in the world.
    His college athletic days led him to work with athletes in the performance side of exercise science. The mentorship Martino received from two professors at Furman turned him away from pre-med and to the preventive side of medicine where he could teach people how to take better care of themselves. It also gave him the inspiration to mentor his students.
    Senior Kyle Collins, a member of the GCSU golf team and Milledgeville native, has been under Doc’s direction since he was 15 years old.
    “To have somebody like him here, with all the experience in a small town and at our school is great,” Collins said. “He is a good guy. He is willing to help everybody out. He has got a really vast knowledge to help anyone get into better shape.”
    Now, he not only gives students lectures on exercise science, but he gets them out into the world to practice what they learn.
    “Getting my students involved outside the classroom is a big part of the program. I do a lot of work for the University with the sports teams and the depot promoting wellness throughout the campus,” Martino said. “Lately, I’ve been getting (students) involved in the professional realm. I love the teaching, but hands on is a big part.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 1 2008. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry