Eric McDonnell, ATC, continues a Hall of Fame career in his 27th year at Mizzou. Three years after he was recognized by the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) as a Service Award winner - honoring those who have served as role models for future leaders in the athletic training profession and have made significant contributions to it over the past 15 years - McDonnell was inducted into the Missouri Athletic Trainers Association (MoATA) Sports Medicine Hall of Fame in June of 2004.
Following a five-year term as a student athletic trainer for the Tigers, McDonnell was hired as a full-time member of Mizzou's Sports Medicine staff. McDonnell served 17 years as the primary assistant with the football program before joining the women's basketball program. Currently, he oversees women's golf, tennis, and volleyball in addition to his duties with Cindy Stein's Tigers. As part of his administrative duties in the athletic training room, McDonnell taught the Advanced Athletic Training Course for seven years, and coordinated the medical coverage of the Show-Me State Games for sixteen years. He also has received training as an EMT.
McDonnell currently serves as NATA District 5 President. He was President of the Missouri Athletic Trainers Association from 1997-99 and presently leads that organization's Governmental Affairs Committee. In June 2000, McDonnell was awarded the Glenn L. McElroy, MD, Distinguished Service Award - named for Mizzou's longtime team doctor - from MoATA.
McDonnell is a native of Platte City, Mo., where he was a student athletic trainer at Platte County R-III High School. He holds two degrees from Mizzou: a bachelor's degree in secondary education (Health and Physical Education), and a master's degree in educational administration. He received the Dr. James M. Baker Award in 1981 as an outstanding student athletic trainer.
McDonnell is certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association and registered as an athletic trainer by the Board of Healing Arts in the state of Missouri. McDonnell has also received training through MU's Law Enforcement Training Institute (LETI), and is a commissioned reserve police officer for the Weatherby Lake Police Department, a suburb of Kansas City, Mo.
He is married to the former Sabrina Batterton of Auxvasse, Mo. They are the parents of a daughter, Madison, and a son, Grant.
