Head Athletic Trainer: Danny O'Connor (718) 488-1521, doconnor@liu.edu
Assistants: Junko Yazawa, Erica Marcano
Graduate Assistants: Charles Hooks, Lori-Ann Psarras, Courtney Civitano

The campus’ athletic training staff is dedicated to the prevention, rehabilitation and recovery needs of over 200 student-athletes for the school’s 17 athletic teams. Headed by three full-time athletic trainers, the staff consists of several graduate and undergraduate trainers who are enrolled in LIU’s renowned athletic training program.

Because of the extreme availability of the training program’s resources, great attention and detail is placed on each athlete in order to provide the best care and best specific plan to ensure the athlete’s long-range health goals are met.
In the winter of 2005, a state-of-the-art athletic training room opened in the lower level of the Wellness, Recreation and Athletic and Center. It is full equipped with the latest modalities and rehabilitation equipment in taking care of the needs of Blackbird athletes.

The Wellness Center also houses resources and programs to promote the health of community residents. Cardiac rehabilitation, orthopedic therapy and asthma education services will be available this fall. In addition, the facility features specialized equipment, such as a separate therapy pool equipped with a hydraulic floor.

In addition to providing treatment and rehabilation, the athletic training staff provides education to student-athletes regarding health matters and concerns in order to air students in achieving optimum health and conditioning.

The sports medicine program is under the direction of Danny O’Connor, who was promoted to head trainer in 2000. O’Connor, who started with LIU as a graduate student from 1994-96, is responsible for maintaining the operation of the athletic training room. His duties also include the coordination of medical coverage and the administering of the athletic department’s drug education and testing program. He also is in charge of scheduling appointments with the program’s physician, coordinating preseason physical exams and designing treatment and rehabilitation programs.

O’Connor consults regularly with athletic department orthopedic surgeon Dr. Howard Levy, doctor of orthopedic surgery and sportsmedicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. Levy and a network of medical staff, mostly from Lenox Hill, work closely with LIU athletes for their surgical and rehabilitative needs.