Ryan Boyer is in his fifteenth year as the Head Athletic Trainer/Assistant Athletic

Director at Creekside High School. He was part of the school's opening staff in 2008. He has concurrently been an Athletic Trainer for the United States Tennis

Association’s Pro Circuit since 2011. He has also been a founding administrator of the Secondary School Athletic Trainers group page on Facebook since 2013. 

 

Ryan Boyer is a graduate of the University of North Florida. He obtained BOC certification as an Athletic Trainer after graduation in 2000 and licensure in the

State of Florida as an Athletic Trainer in 2001. 

 

He served as the Outreach Coordinator for the Sports Concussion Program and High School Initiative at Florida Hospital in Orlando from 2007 to 2008, where he oversaw the hospital-based high school concussion program in the Metropolitan Orlando area. 

 

Ryan was the first full time Athletic Trainer at Rockledge High School from 2001 to 2007.  The Raiders were two-time State Championships in Football and one State Championship in Baseball in that time. He was also decorated by the Brevard County School District for saving the life of a student-athlete. 

 

Ryan Boyer is a U.S. Army veteran, serving from 1991 to 1995. He was decorated several times for meritorious service including the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal twice awarded.

 

He has been a member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the Southeast Athletic Trainers’ Association, and the Athletic Trainers’ Association of Florida since 1997.

 

Campaign Message

I am an Athletic Trainer with 23 years of experience in the secondary school, hospital, and professional tennis settings. I have also been a college ATEP Preceptor for 15 years and an administrator of the Secondary School Athletic Trainers group page on Facebook for 10 years. I hope to use that experience and the network I have established to support and promote the profession in the State of Florida and be of service to my colleague Athletic Trainers.

Christopher J. Joyce PhD, ATC, CSCS, CCRA is an Associate Professor in the Athletic Training Program at the University of North Florida (UNF). In addition to being a Certified Athletic Trainer for over 30 years, Dr. Joyce is a Certified Sports & Conditioning Specialist and Certified Clinical Research Associate.  He has over 23 years of experience educating athletic training students and his areas of expertise include gross anatomy, biomechanics, and research methods. Dr. Joyce has served as the Program Director and Clinical Coordinator of the Athletic Training Program at UNF and has been an Accreditation Site Visitor for Athletic Training Education.  He is the Vice Chair of the UNF Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects.  His areas of scholarly interest include lower extremity biomechanics, balance and postural control, and the rights and protections of human subjects in clinical and applied research.  Dr. Joyce has worked clinically as an athletic trainer at the high school and collegiate settings.  Dr. Joyce earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education from Bridgewater State College with concentrations in Athletic Training and Pedagogy grades 5-12.  Dr. Joyce earned both a Master’s degree in Athletic Training and a PhD in Sports Medicine from the University of Virginia.  

 

Campaign Message

I am honored to be nominated for the position of Northeast Florida Representative for the Athletic Trainers of Florida.  If elected, my primary goal will be to advocate for athletic trainers and the profession of athletic training at the local, state, and regional level.  I will work to ensure that the leaders of ATAF and SEATA are aware of the specific challenges we face in our region in providing health care to our patients, athletes, and others.   I want to facilitate engagement among and between athletic trainers in Northeast Florida and bridge connections between our region, other regions of Florida, and ATAF.  I will do this by communicating events, concerns, and accomplishments in other regions and state-wide to the constituents in Northeast Florida.   I support the role of athletic trainers in patient centered care and the continued development of the profession through continuing education, particularly opportunities in our local area.  I will support ATAF in the goals established in the 2021-2023 Executive Board and look forward to the opportunity to contribute to the development of the 2024-2026 goals and beyond.

I live with my wife and three of my four kids (my oldest moved back to Ohio to work with my brother) in Gainesville. We have been in Florida for three years and don’t miss the snow of Cleveland, Ohio. Before coming down here, I worked for 22 years as an AT in northeast Ohio, most of that time in an outreach capacity from hospitals to high schools.

 

I graduated from The Ohio State University in 1995 with a bachelors in Exercise Science while being one of the last classes to complete the internship route into the field of Athletic Training. In 2011, I graduated from Cleveland State University with a Masters Degree in Education. Currently, I serve as the ATAF Northeast Representative and work for UF Health in an outreach role where I am assigned to two small schools in Levy County, Bronson and Cedar Key.

 

I have spent time working for the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association by serving on the clinical and industrial and secondary schools committees). I worked closely with the Ohio High School Athletic Association in designing their weight assessment rule for wrestling when that became an issue in the mid-2000s and co-founded a concussion clinic with my coworker in Ohio in 2015.
 

In northeast Ohio communities, I spent time working with various football and wrestling youth organizations to assure that they were following safe practices and working to increase their awareness of athletic trainers. I also served on my church’s council where I was the liaison to the health and wellness and technology committees.

 

Since coming to Florida, my interest in helping advance the profession has continued by serving with the ATAF secondary schools committee.

 

In whatever spare time my wife and I can find to spend together, you will likely find us on our boat touring the coastal waters and inland lakes.

 

Campaign Message:

I have worked in this field for many years in a few settings and in a couple of states. To date, I have reaped the rewards of many people who paved the way before me to make our field a successful profession and I have always enjoyed giving back through the state associations to which I was formerly and am currently affiliated. As the current Northeast Representative for ATAF, I look forward to being re-elected and continue to address the concerns of NE Florida in the state association and represent their voice in the ATAF.