Meet Debby Winder the 2018 Texas High School Coaches Trainer of the Year

Promotion to head athletic trainer comes on heels of state-wide award

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BY RUSSELL HUFFMAN
TheFlashToday.com

When Debby Winder talks about working with “her kids” it comes from the heart, and that passion and drive have led to her being named the 2018 Athletic Trainer of the Year by the Texas High School Coaches Association.

It has also led to her being promoted to the head athletic trainers position at Stephenville High School after the departure of Mike Carroll earlier this month.

It’s been a long journey for Winder, and when she couldn’t take the route into coaching she took a path she believed is the next best thing, and along the way, she has shown herself to be a woman of patience.

Winder has raised children of her own, and all three played NCAA Division 1 sports, with daughter Lindsey playing basketball at the University of Oklahoma. Winder’s two sons – Taylor played linebacker at North Texas and Tate heading to the eastern shore to play for Florida.

Tate played tight end and will always be linked to a player who is arguably the most famous college football player of all time Tim Tebow. It’s not easy to get into that company, but you can do it if you happen to be the receiver who caught Tebow’s first career/jump pass in a tied up game against LSU.

While she admits a passion for football Debby Winder is an all-sports trainer and encourages those around her to take the next step in their careers.

As a tight-knit family, it was hard for Taylor not getting to see his brother’s high school games as he made his way through college with grades that earned his way into law school. It seemed only natural he would apply to law school in Florida so he could, at last, get to see his brother play football.

It was great time to be at Florida while there Tate got to be on two National Championship teams, and Winder did a whole lot of traveling to see games.

“See all those pictures of those babies up there? Both my boys married Florida girls and stayed out there.” Winder said while pointing toward her cabinet in the corner. “Those are our Florida grandbabies.”

As for getting to meet Tim Tebow?

“Oh yes, and got to sit with his parents at games,” Winder said. “He is exactly as he appears absolutely a great person. He is everything great. A genuinely good person.”

There have been highs and lows in Winder’s life as she lost her father at the age of eight and then met her mentor and future (way in the future), father-in-law, Dick Winder when she was around 13. The Winder family had a lake house next to her family’s place on Lake Spence, and she was drawn to this big gravely voiced father figure who also happened to be the head football coach at Odessa High School.

From being an office aide to helping with scouting reports she was hooked from the start and remembers well those Saturday’s spent at a local trucking company compiling statistics and reports on a computer.

“We didn’t have a computer at the school, but Tommy Salmon did at his trucking company, and I would first write down everything I was told to in this column or another and then I would go down and use the computer to put it all together,” Winder said.

Being around the football team all the time led to thoughts about how she might be able to work full time in that area, but there were no opportunities for females in coaching football or even being a trainer. This wasn’t just a male-dominated field it was a zero-tolerance policy in Texas until Title 9 came around, and women’s sports began to gain ground.

Before all that happened Winder was quietly learning how to tape an ankle or a thumb under the instruction of Odessa’s head trainer Larry Rosser. Who one day motioned Winder over and started explaining how to tape an ankle and she just loved what she saw and wanted to do it herself.

It would be a few years before Winder had the opportunity to break through that glass ceiling. Years that included getting married and having three children all while keeping her hand in the game here and there with graduate studies at UTBP.

Winder never missed a chance to nudge the staff and athletic director at UTBP to establish an athletic trainers program as Title 9 was in full force and girls’ sports was growing stronger by the year.

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“Then one day I got a call and was told I needed to get over to the college and sign up for classes,” Winder said.

The long awaited day had finally arrived, and Winder was so prepared she needed a total of just three classes to receive her certification. There were still clinical hours she had to perform under a licensed trainer. She did that at Odessa College and later an internship with the semi-pro Jackalopes hockey team for two years.

Longview was her first high school job, and she admits she probably would have never left if not for Tate playing football in Florida.

“I was leaving football work at midnight and driving three hours to the airport and catching a 5 AM flight to see a 2 PM football game,” Winder said.

When an offer came from Lewisville, it meant Winder could sleep a couple of hours before that redeye flight. After spending six years at Lewisville Winder was given the opportunity to be the head trainer and assistant athletic director at Gilmar and it was there that led to her path to Stephenville.

For Debby Winder there’s no better place to be on a Friday night than working alongside your husband.

It was a seven-on-seven football tournament, and Stephenville and another team were in the running for the final spot in the brackets. When she was asked if she knew anyone in Stephenville she mentioned a friend from back in her teens Greg Winder.

Following the tournament where they got to catch up, the pair drifted into texting each other. That slowly turned into an invite to a BBQ and “oh I have an extra ticket to a Ranger’s game” and before Winder realized she was seeing a good deal of her “friend” Greg who was making that that 3.5-hour drive on a frequent basis.

Winder admits she didn’t see it coming but when a family friend pointed out the fact her future husband had made that 3.5-hour one-way drives for eight straight weekends love was indeed in the air.

Some of those who saw the love blooming might have wished the couple had met at a three-on-three basketball tournament because ironically the couple met at a seven-on-seven tournament only to take seven years to finally tie the knot.

“We dated for five years and were engaged for two more,” Winder said. “We got married the summer after Greg was promoted to head coach.”

Now Winder is getting a promotion of her own which comes on the heels of her state-wide honor as Athletic Trainer of Year. An honor she was nominated for by the Jackets long-time football rival Brownwood.

“I was amazed when I found out I had been nominated, and then I found out where the nomination came from, and I was very humbled,” Winder said. “I think that says a lot when your competition admires the work you do.”

There were seven other nominees for the award, and after the board of directors went through the recommendations and bios, it was Winder who rose to the top.

Winder will receive her honor July 21 in San Antonio during the annual coaches convention and then will continue focusing on the training program at Stephenville High School which does have opportunities for young ladies.

“I tell all of our students to reach high and that they can become doctors or surgeons if they want.”
Winder said. “This can be a stepping stone toward a career in the medical field if they want.”

 

 

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