According to the Occidental Athletics website, Becky Roark was hired over the summer as the Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine. Assistant Athletic Director (AD) for Communications Joe Perrino said Roark took the position over from Joe Gonzalez. According to the Pomona-Pitzer Athletics website, Gonzalez was Occidental’s Assistant AD for Sports Medicine for 13 years, and was in charge of handling all sports medicine operations for the college.
“The health and safety of our student-athletes is the most important thing when we look at Oxy athletics,” Perrino said. “[Roark has] experience [from] working in our conference for such a long time, and knowing all the best practices as an athletic trainer. [Roark] really fit that mold for us, she’s stepped in and done a great job.”
Roark said Occidental’s athletics program is similar to Pomona-Pitzer’s, where she had worked for the previous 18 years.
“To be able to inherit a program that was already established and add my own flavor is really nice,” Roark said. “What Joe did here before [me] was awesome.”
Roark said she is trying to build on Gonzalez’s legacy while also applying her own personal expertise.
“Joe was here for so long, so things were done his way for so long,” Roark said. “I could say that’s the ‘Oxy Way,’ but then [I can] bring my own flair and my own niches. I tend to be more hands-on with rehab […] [and] more aggressive, like, ‘If you can play, you can play.’”
Roark said her job is more focused on administration than day-to-day operations, but she is also present at the games as a medical trainer.
“I am in charge of three other athletic trainers, scheduling them [and] making sure all practices and events are covered by everybody,” Roark said. “I also have a sport coverage responsibility, so I will cover around three sports [in] fall, winter and spring.”
Roark said her first dream job was to be an emergency room doctor, but she is glad her career includes sports and medicine.
“I played softball at San Jose State, and I was one of the first to go through the program as an athlete and an athletic trainer,” Roark said. “I always thought I was going to be an emergency room doctor, and then as I got closer I was like, ‘I don’t know if I want to do all the school.’ This is a little bit like emergency care, a little bit of rehab, but I get to watch sports for a living, right? This is the best of all the worlds in one.”
Roark said she came to Occidental because she could tell the school was building a winning culture.
“Being here […] you can just see how we, as an athletic program, are trying to get better,” Roark said. “What I saw from being at Pomona was that Oxy was starting to build this energy of athletics.”
Director of Athletics Shanda Ness said Roark’s lengthy experience in SCIAC has helped her adjust quickly to a new environment.
“[Roark having] to come in right when the student athletes are arriving was tricky, but because she had such a strong background in SCIAC she was really able to hit the ground running,” Ness said. “Obviously health and safety is top priority for our student athletes so we’re thrilled to have her leading the charge.”
According to Ness, Roark is part of Occidental’s athletics leadership team, and has an important say in decision making for the athletics program.
“[Roark] oversees all the sports medicine operations,” Ness said. “She also is on the athletics leadership team because it’s important to have that voice — someone who has health and safety first and foremost.”
Perrino said the athletics leadership team is designed to uphold the priorities of Occidental’s sports teams.
“The athletics leadership group works closely together to make sure that the department as a whole, not just sports medicine […] follows the values we want to have as a department and the values of the college as well,” Perrino said. “[Roark] is integrating herself with the Oxy community [and] getting to know all of our student athletes.”
According to Perrino, Occidental athletics has been recognized for their efforts in expanding and improving the department. Perrino said Occidental athletics has also been working with the college’s Justice, Equity, Diversion and Inclusion initiative (JEDI).
“Last year, we were finalists for a couple of awards and we even won the [DIII NCAA Opportunities and Impact] award as a department,” Perrino said. “Our operations person Cori [Vallembois] did some great work with JEDI.”
According to Roark, working with athletes to get them back into competition is the most satisfying part of her job.
“The thing [that’s] so special about athletic training is you get to see [the athletes] through,” Roark said. “I get to see the start to finish and then get to see their journey back, which is really cool because you’re behind the scenes, but that’s my blood, sweat and tears as well. Being able to see them shine on the field, that’s so fun to me.”
Contact Angus Kapstein Parkhill at parkhill@oxy.edu
