Sports

Dwayne Durham named N.C. Athletic Trainer of the Year (2)

Dwayne Durham treats an East Henderson High School athlete.

By Lightning Reports, Published: May 27, 2020

Pardee Sports Medicine Director Dwayne Durham has been honored as the 2020 North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s Elton Hawley Athletic Trainer of the Year.

The honor is a part of the State Awards, presented annually by the NCHSSA, which are based on those who have done the most for high school athletics.

“Dwayne is a true professional and passionate about his work with our student athletes,” said Jay Kirby, president and CEO, Pardee UNC Health Care. “He has been a staple in this community for nearly 40 years and we could not be more proud of him for earning this well-deserved honor.”
Durham was the first nationally certified athletic trainer in Western North Carolina at the high school level. He began teaching at Hendersonville High in 1986, where he established a student athletic training program and introduced sports medicine classes that still exist today. In 1991, he was promoted to sports medicine coordinator for Henderson County Public Schools. In 1997, Durham joined and became director of Hendersonville Sports Medicine, before purchasing the clinic in 2005. He currently serves as director of Pardee Sports Medicine, managing their middle and high school athletic training programs for Henderson, Buncombe, Polk, Haywood, and Transylvania counties and serves as the athletic trainer for East Henderson High School.
Elton Hawley is one of the pioneers of sports medicine as it related to North Carolina high schools. A graduate of Midway High School in Dunn and then a 1970 graduate of Appalachian State University, Hawley was one of the first teacher-athletic trainers in the state and received the inaugural North Carolina Athletic Trainer of the Year award in 1984. For 25 years he served as the athletic trainer for the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas, and for over 20 years taught adult athletic training classes at the North Carolina Coaches’ Association clinic in Greensboro. He passed away in April of 2016, and afterward, the NCHSAA honored his legacy by naming its Athletic Trainer of the Year award after him.
Pardee UNC Health Care is a not-for-profit community hospital founded in 1953 and is managed by UNC Health. The hospital is licensed for 222 acute care beds. Pardee has several locations separate from the main campus, including a comprehensive physician practice network, a cancer center, three urgent care locations and five orthopedic clinics. For more information or to find a physician, visit www.pardeehospital.org.