Kim O’Connell, associate professor and director of the athletic training program at New Mexico State University, was recently inducted into the New Mexico Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame, the third woman ever to earn the recognition.
O’Connell graduated from NMSU in 1994 with a degree in athletic training education. In 2002, she was named assistant director of the NMSU Athletic Training Education Program, and since then has served in several capacities until she was named program director in 2018. In all, she has supervised and taught more than 150 athletic training program students, many of whom are now athletic trainers, including several who work with major league teams.
“It surprised me, I was definitely shocked,” O’Connell said. “This recognition is deeply meaningful to me, especially as women have started to make inroads in the field that was very male dominated when I started.”
O’Connell, who graduated from Deming High School, initially intended to become a music major when she arrived as a student at NMSU on a music scholarship. A member of the university’s Pride of New Mexico Marching Band, O’Connell injured her shoulder and got a taste of what NMSU’s athletic training program had to offer.
“The person who did my rehab was actually a graduate of the program,” O’Connell said. “It was divine intervention.”
O’Connell’s hall of fame induction is not the only milestone she’s celebrating this summer. June 14 marked the first day of the new athletic training master’s program.
“We have a rich, beautiful history in athletic training here,” O’Connell said. “We were one of the first accredited undergraduate athletic training programs in the country, and one of the first curriculum programs,” O’Connell said. “To have come full circle, from student to director, is really amazing.”
To learn more about the athletic training program, which is housed in NMSU’s College of Health, Education and Social Transformation, visit https://kind.nmsu.edu/academic-programs/training%20.html.
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PHOTO CAPTION: Kim O’Connell, associate professor and director of the athletic training program at New Mexico State University, has been inducted into the New Mexico Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame, the third woman ever to earn the recognition. (Courtesy photo by Luca Jay)
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Head and shoulders of a woman.