Deering High School’s Greg Tosi was among eight athletic trainers across Maine recently named as legends in the field by the Maine Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA).

The MIAAA honored Tosi and the other seven athletic trainers as "Legends of Maine Athletic Training" in a special ceremony April 6 that took place during the association’s 52nd annual Spring Conference at the Samoset Resort in Rockport. The award is a way for MIAAA to recognize the legacy of athletic trainers in Maine athletics. “From the profession's origins in the state through pioneers such as Stanley Wallace and Wesley Jordan at the University of Maine and Carl Nelson at Colby College, the Maine athletic trainer has served as a critical front line worker servicing a wide variety of needs within sports programs,” the MIAA said.

To receive the award, athletic trainers must meet the following criteria:

●      Maintains the highest level of professional service and standards of professional practice;

●      Has provided outstanding service to their employer and to the profession of Athletic Training;

●      Has, through their actions, helped to create a better environment for their colleagues, athletes/patients, and community;

●      Recognized excellence in the field of athletic training;

●      Outstanding service to the athletic trainer’s place of professional employment

●      Must demonstrate honesty, integrity, adaptability, tactfulness, and friendliness when dealing with their fellow athletic trainers

Deering Athletic Director Michael Daly, who nominated Tosi for the award, said Tosi meets those criteria and more.

“Greg is an outstanding athletic trainer who is always there caring for and supporting our Deering student-athletes, coaches, staff and the community, on and off the fields of play,” Daly said. “Greg is a crucial member of our co-curricular/athletic and school staff and is an exceptional, caring and skilled athletic trainer and a leader in his field in HS sports. Greg has served the Deering and PPS communities and our students for more than two decades and he is integral to making our student-athletes’ experiences special, safe and successful. Greg is the embodiment of Ram Nation and we are thrilled he is being honored by the MIAAA as a legend in the field of athletic training!”

The MIAA described Tosi, who has been the athletic trainer at Deering since 2001, in this way: Greg has established a legacy of longevity and service to Portland Public Schools student-athletes. This Vermonter attended U-32 High School in East Montpelier, Vermont. A graduate of nearby Lyndon State College (with a degree in physical education and athletic training), he earned his master’s of science in athletic training from Indiana State University in 1994.  For more than two decades, he has served as the head athletic trainer at Deering High School in Portland.  When you see the Rams play, you can generally find Greg.  An active Tweeter, he is known for celebrating the achievements of Deering student-athletes and for promoting the profession in general. Athletic training is part of his bloodline, as other family members, including his brother, practice the craft.

Tosi is a certified athletic trainer who, in addition to his work at Deering, also partners with Portland High School athletic trainer Ryan Lucas. His previous experience includes being an athletic trainer at Ellsworth high school for Maine Coast Memorial Hospital and New England College in New Hampshire. Tosi is also an instructor with the American Heart Association. He has served as an athletic trainer for the Maine State (MPA) Championships for football, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, ice hockey and basketball tournaments. His previous awards include Safe Sports School Award for 2020-2023 and 2016-2019; being named USM Preceptor of the Year (2018-19) and UNE Preceptor of the Month (February 2018); and the Brian Gordon Sports Award – Deering H.S. Basketball, 2010. He also was inducted into the Lyndon State College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999 and won an MVP Award at Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in 1998.

At the recognition ceremony, MIAAA Executive Director Gerald Durgin presented each honoree with a windbreaker signifying their recognition and celebrating their years of service and impact in this vital role in Maine schools. The other seven athletic trainers recognized this month by the MIAA as "Legends of Maine Athletic Training" are:

●      Kate Anagnostis, who has served as the head athletic trainer at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham for twenty-seven years.

●      Brian Batchelder, former longtime program director of athletic training at the University of New England in Biddeford Pool, and now director of clinical development for TB12 in Foxborough, Mass.

●      Donald Crane, an employee of Midcoast Hospital in Brunswick who has worked as the athletic trainer at Brunswick High School for fifteen years.

●      Audrey MacKenzie Marin, formerly head athletic trainer at Portland High School for many years, who now works at Maine Medical Partners Orthopedics and Sports Medicine as an athletic trainer. 

●      Dr. John Ryan, who has served student-athletes at two of the state’s largest high schools in Bangor and South Portland for the past thirty-three years.

●      Chris Sementelli, who is the program manager for Maine General Sports Medicine and the  head athletic trainer at Erskine Academy in South China, and has been part of the Maine Concussion Management Initiative and served on the MPA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee.

●      Arlene Verre, the head athletic trainer at Kennebunk High School since 1994, who has been involved with the Maine Concussion Management Initiative and introduced ImPACT assessment protocols into her school.

Read more details about each of the eight honorees HERE.

PHOTO: Pictured, from left, are Deering High School Athletic Director Michael Daly and Athletic Trainer Greg Tosi at the MIAAA's special April 6 ceremony honoring Tosi and seven other athletic trainers as "Legends of Maine Athletic Training."