Laurie White is a humble, selfless person. She normally
doesn’t like the spotlight shining on her.
She just does her job with kindness and a smile.
White, in her eighth season as Xavier Prep’s head athletic
trainer and nearing 30 years in her field, will be honored on Sunday (Jan. 25)
when she becomes the first female to be inducted into the Arizona Athletic
Trainers Association Hall of Fame.
“This is a great honor,’’ White said on Thursday night (Jan.
22) during XCP’s soccer match against visiting Phoenix Mountain Pointe.
The soccer team honored White in a special way at halftime,
when a handful of players presented her with a soccer ball signed by Coach Barb
Chura and all of the team members.
It was special in that many of her players also are her
students in the two sports medicine classes and the advanced wrapping and
taping course that she leads at XCP.
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| Xavier senior soccer players Kelly Harris (12), Amanda Lane (21) and Kendall Ward (16) present Gators athletic trainer Laurie White with an autographed ball at halftime of Thursday match vs. Mountain Pointe. (Photo by Sr. Lynn Winsor). |
White’s husband, Chris, has been the head athletic trainer
at neighboring all-boys Phoenix Brophy Prep for nearly 30 years, and their
daughter, Carly, is a senior at Xavier this year. An older son, Ian, attends
college in New York state.
White said she knew she had been nominated a few weeks ago,
but then someone let the cat out of the bag when she found out she indeed would
be inducted.
“Someone contacted me and said, “How many people would you
like at the luncheon?’ ’’
Ooops. But it was a good ooops, obviously.
White grew up in Connecticut, where she was a three-sport
athlete in high school. She played field hockey, basketball and softball. She
developed an interest in sports medicine during that time.
One of her close friends was a cheerleader who fell during a
pep rally. When a man attempted to help the friend, White blurted out, “No,
don’t move her!’’
“I guess that’s where it really started,’’ White said.
She moved to Arizona in 1985, became certified in 1986 and
got her first job in 1987. That was with a sports medicine program at Phoenix
Carl Hayden and Phoenix North highs that was overseen by then-Phoenix Suns
physician Dr. Paul Steingard.
She then went to Phoenix Barry Goldwater in the Deer Valley
Unified School District for two years before returning to the Phoenix Union
High School District at Phoenix Alhambra for a number of years.
White heard of the job opening for head athletic trainer at
Xavier through a friend. She applied and was hired.
“It felt like it was meant to be,’’ she said. “I have really
enjoyed my work here.’’
That work includes helping out the visiting teams whenever
they stop at Xavier.
She thinks back to those early days and how her love of
sports led her to this point.
White is ably assisted by Leah Fayson and Alyssa Sleight,
but still finds plenty of work to keep her busy. There is almost no time that
goes by the wayside, and if there are a few moments where she isn’t taping ankles,
she simply enjoys watching the Gators’ games.
Chura couldn’t say enough about the job White has done.
“She has helped our program so much,’’ Chura said. “A couple
of years ago, we had eight or nine of our top players who weren’t sure they
were going to be able to play in the state tournament because of injuries, but
Laurie put them all back together. I haven’t seen anyone better at any level.’’
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