After 32 years of dedicated service to Grove City College and its athletic department, head athletic trainer Kay Mitchell Emigh will step down from her position due to medical reasons.
Emigh joined the athletic department in 1985 and became head athletic trainer in 1986. Throughout her career at the College, she worked with thousands of Grove City student-athletes in 22 varsity sports.
“I’ll remember games, record-breaking performances, moments of victory and moments of defeat,” Emigh said. “But what has stood out the most is the relationships I’ve formed. I’ve been able to form lifelong friendships that I will always cherish.”
Prior to Emigh’s arrival in fall 1985, Grove City College did not have an athletic trainer or athletic training program. In her role as head athletic trainer, Emigh had the opportunity to build a program from its infancy.
“Jack Behringer put his faith in a young person to head up a new athletic training program,” Emigh said of Grove City’s athletic director from 1957 to 1996. “Having the opportunity to establish a new program is something that I have always been proud of.”
Long considered one of the top collegiate athletic trainers in the country, Emigh was one of only three athletic trainers to participate in the NCAA Division III Health and Safety Summit in October 2015.
From 2001 to 2004, she served as northwest representative for the Pennsylvania Athletic Trainers’ Society Board of Directors. Emigh has also been a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA), the Eastern Athletic Trainers Association (EATA) and the College Athletic Trainers Society.
“I have been very fortunate to work with Kay in several roles in Grove City College athletics,” Grove City College athletic director Todd Gibson said. “Kay took care of me as an athlete for four years and she has continued to help me as an assistant coach, head coach and athletic director.
“Kay has made an immeasurable impact on the athletic department and our student-athletes,” Gibson continued. “Her care and compassion for the athletes and her colleagues in the athletic department are unmatched.”
“Kay embodies the College’s values of faithfulness, excellence and love for one another,” Grove City College President Paul J. McNulty ’80 said. “We deeply appreciate her years of dedication and outstanding service.”
It’s a hard decision to accept, but it’s the right decision,” Emigh said. “I’ve been able to work with great people at Grove City. It has been great to watch our coaching staff doing what they love while making an impact on young people through sports.
“Grove City College has always been about relationships, and in the end, relationships with people are what’s important.”
A native of Elizabeth, Pa., Emigh earned her bachelor’s degree at Slippery Rock University in 1983. She then completed her master’s degree at SRU in 1986.
Emigh will be joining her husband Tom in New Mexico later this spring.
“I want people to remember that I cared about the student-athletes, the coaches, the teams and Grove City College,” Emigh said. “If it was all about wins and losses, there would be no emotions. It’s about the people and that’s what makes it emotional.”