BRADENTON, Fla. — Athletic trainer Steve Favia with Coastal Orthopedics was recently named the recipient of the 2018 Southeast Athletic Trainers’ Association (SEATA) Clinic/Industrial/Corporate Athletic Trainer of the Year award.
The annual award is presented to an athletic trainer who best represents their profession in a clinic, industrial or corporate environment while educating the public to the benefits of having an athletic trainer in the workplace. This is the first time Favia has won the award.
“I was happy and surprised by this honor,” said Favia. “In athletic training, the thanks I receive from the student athletes, parents and coaching staff makes it very rewarding. For an association to honor you in such a way, it makes it that much more special.”
Favia has more than seven years of private practice experience in athletic training, including working with outpatient orthopedic patients and focusing his skills on occupational and industrial athletic training. He has been with Coastal Orthopedics since 2011.
In addition to working for Coastal Orthopedics, Favia also is the head athletic trainer for Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School in Sarasota and owns his own practice providing ergonomic and onsite industrial athletic training services.
“Steve has proven to be a great trainer and a trusted supporter for his student athletes,” said Coastal Orthopedics sports medicine physician and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Daniel Lamar. “He truly cares about their safety and always goes the extra distance for them.”
As the needs of Cardinal Mooney have changed, Favia has taken a more active role at the high school, routinely being there for the student athletes and helping them through their rehabilitation process — the majority of which is now done at the school.
After taking a year off to focus on his own practice, Favia returned to Cardinal Mooney at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year. This fall, Favia plans to expand Cardinal Mooney’s athletic training program, helping prepare students for college and hopefully a career in the field.
“We are thrilled to have Steve Favia return to Cardinal Mooney High School this year,” said Cardinal Mooney athletic director Bill Donivan. “Steve is an outstanding athletic trainer as well as a caring, enthusiastic and extremely knowledgeable. He does a great job communicating with our parents and being the liaison between Coastal Orthopedics and Cardinal Mooney.”
Favia was presented with his award during the Tim Kerin Memorial Awards Ceremony and Luncheon on March 9 in Atlanta. The SEATA, which represents District IX of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, encompasses Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
About Coastal Orthopedics
Founded in 1973 and based in Bradenton, Fla., Coastal Orthopedics is home to 18 orthopedic surgeons and pain management physicians who maintain hospital affiliations with Blake Medical Center, Manatee Memorial Hospital and Lakewood Ranch Medical Center. In addition to three offices and two ambulatory surgery centers each serving Florida’s West Coast, Coastal Orthopedics’ board-certified and fellowship-trained physicians and surgeons provide patients with the very latest in pain and orthopedic treatment technology. The company strives to repair and heal injuries relating to the entire musculoskeletal system. For more than 40 years, our highly skilled staff of physicians and surgeons has treated patients in specialty care including sports medicine, joint replacement, pain management and rehabilitation. Patients can experience restoration of function both surgically and non-surgically through the use of physician-guided strengthening, therapy, medications, injections and stretching. For more information, please visit CoastalOrthopedics.com or call 941-792-1404.