Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 10, 1993 TAG: 9308100056
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
With the start of his second coaching season at Radford just days away, Lineburg was unloading a truck when he doubled over in pain. He had given himself a hernia.
In stepped Dr. Jan Levy with the play that saved the season.
Levy, a Radford surgeon who had worked with the football program for a couple of years, operated on Lineburg's hernia and got him back on the field in time for the Bobcats' first game.
The rest is history. Radford went on to win the first of its back-to-back state championships, and Lineburg was on his way to becoming a coaching legend.
Levy, meanwhile, stood by, quietly pioneering one of the earliest and best high school sports medicine programs in this area.
Last month in Hampton, Levy was rewarded for his dedication when the Virginia High School Coaches Association presented him the Dr. Frank McCue Sports Medicine Award.
The award, named for the long-time University of Virginia orthopedist who set the standard for collegiate and high school training programs, is given annually to a person who has demonstrated excellence in sports medicine.
This year, it went to a man who will soon put the final touches on a career spanning more than two decades on Radford's sidelines.
"Coach Lineburg had nominated me several times, and I guess it got around to me," Levy said modestly.
Thanks to the work of Levy and other physicians interested in athletics, sports medicine programs are now in place at the high school level.
Trainers, doctors and emergency medical teams are commonplace at virtually every athletic competition.
That was not the case in 1969 when Levy began working with the football team at Radford.
Sports medicine was in its Dark Ages; most schools failed to understand the importance of having trained medical personnel on board.
"We were just beginning to come out of the `play-without-drinking-water or you're-not-half-a-man' mentality," Levy said.
Working mainly as a one-man show, Levy diagnosed athletic injuries and prescribed rehabilitation programs.
Twenty years later, sports medicine has mushroomed, Levy said. He has done his job so well, he has almost rendered himself obsolete.
"It used to be that I'd run out onto the field to look someone over if they were hurt," Levy said.
"Now, I walk out there and let the trainer get there first. I'm more like a consultant now."
Levy, 55, will work with Radford's football team again this fall, then he plans on retiring to concentrate on medical missionary work in Africa.
Since 1989, Levy has made four trips to the continent, providing medical assistance in Tanzania, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
He will leave behind a thriving surgical practice and an influential sports medicine program he helped create.
"He was there when this all started 20 years ago," said Lineburg, now entering his 24th season at Radford.
"Dr. Levy's work has been invaluable. We all owe him a big thanks."
by CNB