A familiar name to top-performing athletes and weekend touch football warriors alike just made the Hall of Fame.
John Spiker led the 2022 induction class to the Hall of Fame of the West Virginia Athletic Trainers’ Association, which held its ceremonies April 8 in Morgantown.
As said, if Spiker’s name sounds familiar to you, that’s because it is.
He spent 40 years working with WVU athletes, along with founding his own fitness facility along the way. Spiker’s Healthworks Rehab and Fitness chain has locations across north-central West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Spiker’s huddled up with WVU football coaches from Bobby Bowden, Frank Cignetti and Don Nehlen, to Rich Rodriguez, Bill Stewart and Dana Holgorsen, as he plied his trade in Morgantown.
Nehlen, who perhaps is most celebrated among that lot, gave Spiker a blue-chip endorsement on the occasion of the trainer’s retirement from WVU in 2015.
“In my opinion, John Spiker is Mr. Morgantown,” Nehlen said then. “John is a big-time professional. He’s just a crown jewel for his community.”
Joining Spiker in this year’s hall are other marquee names to those who deal with ankle tape and athletic potential in the Mountain State.
Current WVU men’s basketball trainer Randy Meador was also inducted, along with Bob Cable, the trainer who made his name at Fairmont State University.
Jack Brautigam, who worked in college athletics before heading Spiker’s HealthWorks chain was also inducted, along Joe Beckett and Dan Martin, both of West Virginia Wesleyan.
“Each recipient has had a monumental impact on the growth and success of the athletic training profession,” association president Zach Garrett said.
“Not only in West Virginia,” he added, “but at the national level.”
The reception was held on Touchdown Terrace at Milan Puskar Stadium. Frank Vitale, a Morgantown businessman and executive director of the association, said the venue couldn’t have been more appropriate.
“Our inductees are definitely at the top of their profession,” he said. “Think of all the generations of athletes they helped benefit.”
The West Virginia Athletic Trainers’ Association is a nonprofit representing more than 200 professionals across the Mountain State. Visit www.wvata.org to learn more.
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