Published: March 14, 2008 12:38 am      

BOYS BASKETBALL: NFHS trainer Tony Surace comes through in clutch

NIAGARA FALLS — Imagine standing over the unconscious body of a 16- or 17-year-old high school football player.

Scary, huh?

Unfortunately for Niagara Falls High School athletic trainer Tony Surace, that scenario became reality Sept. 29 at Niagara-Wheatfield High School when the Wolverines were playing the Falcons in a key Class AA North game. N-W defensive back Peter Drew fell to the turf after attempting to make a tackle and lost consciousness, prompting the immediate response from Surace and N-W athletic trainer Ryan Harter.

“That was not a good scene,” Surace said this past week. “It was a scary situation.”

Luckily for Drew, he had one of the leading head and neck injury specialists in the area working with him in Surace, who has been the assistant director of Rochester Sports Medicine Concepts and teaches a continuing education course throughout the country on catastrophic injuries in athletics. Along with Harter’s help, Surace was able to immediately stabilize Drew until the ambulance and paramedics arrived on the scene minutes later.

“Everything went very well there,” Surace said.

Similar to the satisfaction that players feel after a victory, Surace feels the same way after outcomes such as Drew’s. And don’t doubt for a second that the people around Surace don’t notice.

“He’s like a quiet hero for us,” Niagara Falls modified boys basketball coach Sal Constantino said. “Everyone really appreciates all the stuff he does for every sport.”

Surace, 37, started as an athletic trainer at Mount St. Mary’s Hospital in 1997 and within a year took over responsibilities for the Niagara Falls City School District. During that first year, Surace was the only trainer on staff and was forced to pull double duty for both Niagara Falls and LaSalle high schools.

“I’d go to the first half of a football game for LaSalle and the second half go to the Powercats game if they were going on at the same time,” Surace reminisced. “Doing that for a year was a little crazy.”

The following season, Surace was able to get an assistant and things continued to run smoothly right up until the merger of the two schools into the new Niagara Falls High School in 2000. At that time, Surace had a training room built for him and his staff and they’ve operated out of there ever since, serving the athletes — and staff of NFHS.

“Just last week we had an art teacher cut herself pretty badly after school and … we were able to help her out,” Surace said. “I guess you could say I’m the school nurse after school.”

For Niagara Falls senior Bobby Daniels, a three-year member of the varsity basketball team, that kind of display is just the kind of person Surace is.

“People get hurt and he goes beyond what he has to do,” Daniels said. “He’s not afraid to get his hands dirty and he’s always checking up with you.”

Falls boys basketball coach Giulio Colangelo agreed.

“He does a fantastic job,” the coach said. “The kids go to him for all kinds of injuries and ailments and he always comes through.”

Surace, who is currently the director of sports medicine at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, said that despite his always-calm demeanor he’s just as jacked up as anyone for this weekend’s state final four.

“I get excited for these type of games just like the guys do,” he said while adding that perhaps his favorite moment as trainer was winning the state and federation titles in 2005.

“Being able to be around the players and see them interact with each other is fun. It’s nice to see the school do well.”

Contact reporter Nate Beutel at 282-2311, ext. 2262.



TONY SURACE

• JOB: Athletic trainer for the Niagara Falls City School District

• AGE: 37

• EDUCATION: Lewiston-Porter High School, Canisius College, East Stroudsburg University

• WORK EXPERIENCE: Mount St. Mary’s Hospital, Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, Rochester Sports Medicine Concepts