Dr. Kirk Brumels, who is a professor of kinesiology and chairperson of the department as well as a member of the athletic training staff at Hope College, has been chosen to receive an Athletic Trainer Service Award from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA).
The Athletic Trainer Service award recognizes NATA members who have belonged to the organization for at least 20 years for their contributions to the athletic training profession as volunteers at the local and state levels. Brumels will receive the recognition on Friday, June 24, during the 2016 NATA convention in Baltimore, Maryland.
Brumels, who is a licensed Michigan athletic trainer as well as a certified NATA member, has been an athletic training professional for more than a quarter century and a member of the Hope faculty since 2001.
He has been extensively involved in professional associations throughout his career. He was president of the Michigan Athletic Trainers’ Society (MATS) in 2011 and 2012, previously serving as president-elect in 2009-10 and as chair of the Professional Education Committee during 2007 and 2008. He is also a past Michigan state representative to the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers’ Association (GLATA).
Brumels has chaired the college’s Department of Kinesiology since 2014. He previously served as program director of athletic training education and as head athletic trainer at Hope.
In addition to teaching, Brumels conducts research in athletic training, including collaboratively with students at the college. His publications include co-authoring the fourth edition of the textbook “Developing Clinical Proficiency in Athletic Training: A Modular Approach” and co-authoring nine chapters in the textbook “Core Concepts in Athletic Training and Therapy,” as well as numerous articles in scholarly journals. Through the years, he has made multiple presentations on his research or aspects of athletic training during MATS, GLATA, and the NATA Annual Meetings and/or Symposiums.
A 1988 graduate of Hope’s athletic training program, Brumels worked with the college’s basketball, baseball, field hockey and football teams as well as in the athletic training room as a student. His undergraduate experiences also included an internship with the Patriots during the summer before his senior year.
After Hope he did graduate work in athletic training at Western Michigan University, completing his master’s in 1990. While in the master’s program he was also the staff athletic trainer at St. Mary’s Sports Med Center in Grand Rapids. He completed his doctorate at Western Michigan University in 2005.
He worked with the New England Patriots in Foxboro, Massachusetts, from 1990 to 2001. His responsibilities included supervising, educating and coordinating student athletic trainers during summer training camp and various internship positions throughout the football season. He also worked with the team physician and head athletic trainer to coordinate all aspects of medical services for the team and its staff.
NATA is the professional membership association for certified athletic trainers and others who support the athletic training profession. Founded in 1950, NATA has grown to more than 35,000 members worldwide today.