Purdue hires director of sports medicine

Purdue athletics director Morgan Burke has announced the hiring of Doug Boersma as director of sports medicine. Boersma will start with the Boilermakers on Feb. 15 and ultimately assume the position currently held by Denny Miller, who is retiring June 30.

Boersma was selected from a national candidate pool upon the recommendation by a search committee headed by associate athletics director Ed Howat and including several administrators, head coaches and sports medicine personnel.

"We conducted an exhaustive search and were diligent in the process," Burke said. "When all was said and done, Doug clearly rose to the top. His extensive experience and his understanding of our core principals at Purdue made him our No. 1 choice. He has big shoes to fill, but everyone involved in the selection process is confident he is the right person to do so."

A 1997 Purdue graduate, Boersma returns to his alma mater to lead one of the most respected athletic training/sports medicine programs in the country. He has spent the last eight and a half years in a similar role at Bowling Green State, following stints at Kentucky and Notre Dame. As director of sports medicine, Boersma will oversee the medical treatment, rehabilitation and pre-hab for all 18 varsity teams as well as the areas of sports performance, nutrition and sports psychology.

"It is an honor and a privilege to return to Purdue University to be the director of sports medicine," Boersma said. "Purdue is a very special place - with a tremendous tradition in athletic training and sports medicine - and this is a dream job for me. I look forward to helping our student-athletes in their quest to be champions. My family and I are very excited to be a part of the Boilermaker family."

At Bowling Green State, Boersma served as head athletic trainer for football since 2003, director of sports medicine since 2005 and as assistant athletics director for sports performance since 2010. He also served as education coordinator for the Mid-American Conference Sports Medicine Association and as a part-time faculty member in the school of Human Movement, Sport and Leisure Studies at BGSU.

Boersma aided in the design and development of two state-of-the-art sports medicine facilities in Bowling Green, Ohio - the Sebo Athletic Center and the Stroh Center.

A certified member of the National Athletic Trainers' Association, Boersma entered the professional ranks after completing his bachelor's degree in athletic training at Purdue in 1997. He completed his master's of science in health promotion at Kentucky in 1999, following a two-year graduate assistantship. He then spent four years at Notre Dame before accepting the top job at Bowling Green State.

During his tenure with the Fighting Irish, Boersma designed a custom-made, online injury tracking system, which was constructed by a technology company in South Bend, Ind. He then implemented and managed that system, Shamrock Net Design, at both Notre Dame and Bowling Green State.

Throughout his athletic training career, Boersma has worked with a variety of sports. At BGSU, he has worked directly with the football team and men's and women's golf teams. At Notre Dame, he worked closely with the football program, while directly overseeing the athletic training needs of the men's ice hockey, men's soccer and lacrosse programs. At Kentucky, Boersma tended to the football and women's gymnastics programs. In his stint as a student athletic trainer at Purdue, he worked with the baseball, men's basketball, football and women's tennis teams.

"First, I would like to recognize the efforts of the committee that conducted this search," head football coach Danny Hope said. "They did a tremendous job identifying many qualified candidates and several truly outstanding ones. Having said that, Doug was my first choice, and I could not be more pleased that he will be joining us. He has a tremendous background and vast knowledge and will be an outstanding addition to our athletics staff. I see in Doug the same things that I do Duane Carlisle (director of sports performance). He is forward-thinking, on the cutting edge and will always have the best interest of our student-athletes at the forefront of his mind."

Women's basketball coach Sharon Versyp echoed those sentiments.

"We are pleased to welcome Doug to the Purdue family," Versyp said. "Denny Miller and his staff have done an outstanding job with the care and treatment of our student-athletes, and I know that Doug will continue that tradition while bringing his own unique perspective. He is extremely knowledgeable in the field of sports medicine and isn't afraid to step outside the box to try something innovative. I gained instant respect for him due to his professionalism, his communication skills and his vision for the future. He shows the work ethic and reliability that is a hallmark of Purdue Athletics, and I trust that the sports medicine department will be in good hands under his leadership."

Boersma twice been recognized twice by BGSU for his commitment to the athletics department and university as a whole. In 2008, he received the athletic department's inaugural Roll Along Award, which is issued to individuals who truly understand and live the theme of "18 sports - 1 team." In 2010, he was recognized by the university's Division of Student Affairs with the Outstanding Administrative Staff Award, which is given to staff members for excellence in collaboration, professional performance, cooperation and the spirit of working together for a common purpose or goal.