GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Sporting more team championships than any other institution in the Centennial Conference, the Gettysburg College athletics program has boasted more than its share of standout student-athletes and inspiring coaches. But all the titles and recognition would have been hard to come by if not for a skilled and able-bodied staff of athletic trainers.

One of the earliest small colleges to field an athletic trainer, Gettysburg added the position to the department in 1927. Clayton E. Bilheimer, the College's first director of the health and physical education department, and the iconic Hen Bream '24 formulated a plan to combat the growing number of injuries plaguing teams and keep Gettysburg on a competitive level with bigger institutions.

“Hen Bream was ahead of his time in a lot of things,” noted Bob Kenworthy '59, Gettysburg's sports information director from 1959 to 1999. “He decided the athletic department needed an athletic trainer. Football was the main sport and there were so many injuries. He didn't have a big squad and he needed his players.”

The first man to take the job was Romeo Capozzi. Capozzi was an engineer by trade, but he picked up athletic training under the tutelage of Lawson Robertson, head coach of the U.S. Olympic track and field team and the director of the health and physical education department at the University of Pennsylvania.

As the first person to hold the position, Capozzi didn't have much to work with, recounting later in his life “when I arrived they showed me a medicine cabinet with one band-aid and told me to go to work.” He made the most of what he had though, keeping the student-athletes healthy and productive through the successful “Golden Years” under Hen Bream.

“He was a great guy and well respected,” noted Jack Bream '57, son of Hen Bream. “He took care of everyone in town. When I was a junior in high school, I hurt myself playing basketball. He came out there and fixed me up so I could play that night.”

“Doc” as he was popularly known, was a solo act for much his tenure as head athletic trainer though he found time to maintain the school's athletic fields, including procuring cinders from the local railroad to lay the track around Memorial Field. Eventually, the expanded number of sports and student-athletes led to an addition to the staff as Gareth “Lefty” Biser '57 became one of the first student trainers to work his way through the department.

“He was a very good teacher,” recalled Biser. “I learned a lot of anatomy from him. In those days you didn't have a lot of books and diagrams. We'd gather around the athlete and he'd describe the injury. It was a tremendous learning situation.”

After receiving degrees from Gettysburg and Syracuse University, Biser joined Capozzi as his assistant in 1959 and the pair maintained the health of the athletics program for the next 12 years. Capozzi retired in 1971 after 44 years of service and handed the reigns over to his former student.

“What Lefty was able to absorb in all those years was a spitting image of Rome,” said Kenworthy. “The coaches had a tremendous amount of respect for those two.”

Gettysburg maintained its two-man operation in athletic training by hiring University of Delaware graduate Joe Donolli as Biser's assistant. Both men maintained multiple roles in the department for nearly two decades. Biser was head athletic trainer, faculty member, and an assistant coach with the baseball team, while Donolli served as assistant athletic trainer, faculty member, and head coach of the men's lacrosse team.

“They did a really great job with that,” recalled Kenworthy. “Lefty seemed to do pretty well budgeting his time and was still able to treat the athletes as well. Joe was an assistant at the time so he had a little more time to devote to coaching when he was in season.”

To combat the growing number of athletic teams and athletes, Biser and Donolli created a successful launching pad for aspiring athletic trainers. Dozens of men and women became certified athletic trainers under the duo's tutelage, passing the required test at a success rate far above the national norm. Tim Bream, grandson of Hen Bream and son of Jack Bream, spent his high school and college summers learning under Biser and Donolli in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

“They laid a great groundwork for me going into school,” noted the younger Bream, entering his 18th season as head athletic trainer for the NFL's Chicago Bears. “I was way ahead of the other students by the time I started my athletic training curriculum at Penn State.”

Biser and Donolli left also left significant legacies away from the classroom and athletic training room. Biser began a chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) on campus in 1967 and a large number of the student-athletes and student trainers became members of the organization, including All-American pole vaulter Steve Jirgal '80. Jirgal returned to his alma mater as an intern for two years before going on to become the director of sports medicine at Wingate University in North Carolina.

“Joe and Lefty worked well together because Joe provided humor and a discipline about things, while Lefty provided a nurturing and advisory type of position,” recalled Jirgal, currently the senior pastor at Lakeview Baptist Church in Monroe, N.C. “I think they worked well hand in hand. Both were guys you could count on. You got the feeling they would always be there.”

On the physical side, Donolli took a budding men's lacrosse program to new heights and helped lay the groundwork for future success during his 16-year coaching stint. He led the program to its first winning season and its first conference championship in 1976 and he finished his coaching career with over 100 victories.

When Biser stepped down as head athletic trainer to become chair of the health and physical education department, a position he held until retiring in 1999, Donolli followed in his predecessor's footsteps by moving up from assistant to head athletic trainer in 1987. One of their former students, Mike Cantele '88, joined the department as an assistant in 1990.


Under Donolli and Cantele, the athletic training room went through more dramatic changes as the landscape of collegiate athletics changed. For the first time, the athletics department formulated a concrete emergency action plan and required all coaches and staff members to attain first aid and CPR certification. The focus of athletic training changed too, with more emphasis being given to what Cantele calls “pre-hab.”

“Especially in the last 10 years people have become more active,” noted Cantele. “Along with being more active come more injuries which opens a lot of opportunities for athletic trainers to help prevent injuries, treat injuries and let those people stay active for a long, long time.”

The requirements to gain athletic trainer certification also changed and Gettysburg went down a different path, dropping the internship program at the turn of the new millennium and allowing its athletic trainers to become fulltime administrators without the burden of teaching. With the varsity athletic program reaching 24 teams in 2001, Donolli and Cantele implored the administration to hire more full-time staff dedicated solely to keeping student-athletes healthy.

The administration listened to the plea and today the department features four full-time athletic trainers and one part-time member, in addition to a few seasonal interns and a number of student trainers.

“We can provide a high level of care for our athletes,” stated Donolli, who is entering his 40th year at Gettysburg. “I think parents, coaches, and people that want to work here realize that. I was always proud of this place because they have good emphasis on athletic training and equipment.”

In 2008, Donolli stepped down as head of athletic training and Cantele stepped into the role, becoming just the fourth head athletic trainer in school history.

The following year, The Center for Athletics, Recreation and Fitness opened its doors and with it came a number of upgrades to the athletic training room, including added space for therapy and rehabilitation and a hydrotherapy area. The additions propel Gettysburg's athletic training to the forefront of collegiate athletics, but at the heart of it all is a dedicated staff that started with just a band-aid eight decades ago.

“The athletic trainers do an enormous amount of educational programming in an attempt to provide student-athletes and coaches with the greatest opportunity for success,” said Director of Athletics David Wright. “They serve as counselors, therapists, teachers, and mentors – their role is critical to the success of all sports at the College.”