Roy Rudewick was born in San Antonio where he began his athletic training journey as a student athletic trainer at Holmes High School. He attended his first SWATA meeting in Waco as a student in 1983. In 1984, he began his longtime connection to the University of Texas at Arlington under the mentorship of Pete Carlon. While a student athletic trainer at UTA, Roy was responsible for the care of the student-athletes with football, baseball, women’s volleyball, and men’s basketball. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Physical Education in 1984. In 1988, he served as a summer training camp intern with the NFL’s Houston Oilers and 1989 continued as an intern not only during camp, but also during the season. Roy attended Stephen F. Austin State University starting in 1989 and earned a master’s degree in education in 1990.
In 1990, Roy returned to the North Texas Region and served 1 year as the Head Athletic Trainer at Carrolton RL Turner High School before moving to Arlington Bowie High School in 1991 where he work as the Head Athletic Trainer until 2007. During his time at Bowie High School, many tremendous opportunities and experiences presented themselves to him the most of important of which was meeting fellow teacher Tammy Feaster, who became his wife in 1999. Other experiences included being a medical volunteer for both the World Cup in 1994 and Mesquite Rodeo. In 2006, Roy was approached by the University Interscholastic League to be a part of 3-person team to implement Wrestling Weight Certification across the state of Texas. He traveled around Texas instructing fellow athletic trainers in how to be Certified Wrestling Weight Assessors along with certifying thousands of wrestlers in the DFW area for competition and continues doing so to this day.
In 2007, Roy was called back home to UTA by Pete Carlon to serve as the Head Athletic Trainer. He has currently transitioned to a Senior Athletics Director of Sports Medicine position where he oversees the healthcare of approximately 230 student-athletes by a staff of 6 full time athletic training professionals. He has been a great supporter of the UTA Athletic Trainer Education Program as it has evolved from an undergraduate to a master’s degree program serving as a preceptor since 1994.
Roy is an advocate for the athletic training profession and has tried to pay it forward through his service in professional organizations. He served on Registration and Scholarship committees, as well as President for the North Texas Athletic Trainers’ Society (2002-2004). In the NATA, he has served on the NATA Bylaws Committee (2020) and as a proxy representing District 6 on the NATA Presidential Candidate Forum. He has been a member of the AT Cares support team since 2018. In SWATA, he has served as Entertainment Chair, Co-Chair for Convention (2006-2016), SWATA Vice President (2016-2018), SWATA President (2018-2020). He currently serves as the Region 4 Representative for the Texas State Athletic Trainers Association.
In 1995, Roy received the Ken Locker Outstanding Speaker Award for the student portion of the SWATA Clinical Symposium. In 2015, he received the SWATA Excellence in Athletic Training Award and The University of Texas System Police Life Saving Award both for the aid rendered to a basketball referee having a heart attack during a UTA men’s basketball game. He was honored with both the SWATA Frank Medina Award (2015) and NATA Athletic Training Service Award (2019) for his service to the profession of athletic training.
Roy and Tammy have 2 wonderful children Hannah and Connor.