Northwest University Athletics

NU Athletic Trainer and Adjunct Faculty, 2001-2009
 
A very successful high school football and wrestling coach, Jim was inducted into the Washington State Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in 1990. In the fall of 2000, Richard’s began the transformation of the NU athletic training program into one of the best in the Cascade Conference. With the help of a student assistant, Jim built what is now the present day training room used to treat all Eagle athletes.

Richards transformed athletic training from a minimal care for injured athletes to a program which encompassed a full scale evaluation, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation intervention. He was named the NAIA Athletic Trainer of the Year in 2005 and was inducted into the Northwest Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame in 2009. Richard’s also taught in NU’s School of Education. Jim retired from NU in 2009 after over 7 year at Northwest and 50 years as an educator, coach and athletic trainer. 

• Certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association (1976)
• Founded Washington State’s first high school sports medicine program at Sammamish High School (1976)
• Excellence in Service Award – Washington State Athletic Trainers Association (2004)
•  NAIA Athletic Trainer of the Year (2005)
• Northwest Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame (2009)