After 48 years with the athletic department, Hershey's spring retirement from the university will end an era spanning the Lumberjacks' tenure in the Big Sky Conference. Hershey assisted Dr. Joseph Reno from his hiring until 1977, when he took over as the head team physician.
"Sports medicine is nothing more than taking care of family practice, with a busy playground. Lots of athletes playing, lots of kids playing, lots of kids getting hurt," Hershey said, recalling when former NAU head athletic trainer Mike Nesbitt approached him about working with the university's athletes.
Nesbitt started at Northern Arizona shortly before Hershey, with the former encouraging the latter to come aboard. From there the two worked together until Nesbitt retired in 2006, until this past fall when he returned to drive the equipment truck to road football games, reuniting the two on the road.
"He and I were kind of novices together," said Hershey, who also worked as the team physician for Flagstaff High School from 1971-1983. "We learned from each other a lot, that's how it got me interested... As soon as he approached me, I went with him."
Inducted into the NAU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Flagstaff Sports Foundation Hall of Fame in 2011, Hershey said his tenure at NAU has spanned seven university presidents and 10 athletic directors, with the tenth and final hired a little more than a year ago.
"It has been an absolute pleasure to work with and get to know Doc Hershey over the past year,"
Mike Marlow, NAU's Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics, said. "His contributions to NAU Athletics in general, and specifically to the health and welfare of current and former student-athletes, is immeasurable. He has my utmost respect and appreciation."
AN EASIER SCHEDULE
Having left his own private practice in 2013, Hershey has spent the past five and a half years with the Native Americans for Community Action (NACA) Family Health Center in the Cedar Avenue shopping center. His retirement from his position at NAU doesn't mean he will be leaving NACA, as Hershey said he will continue to practice medicine for the general public.
"I will just keep working, because I think that is what keeps people going," Hershey said, adding he felt it was time to leave NAU because he can't keep up the workload forever and it made sense to start thinking of a replacement now.
"I hate to admit it, but I am having a hard time getting around quickly on the football field," Hershey said, adding he is helping NAU find who will step into his role next. "I think it doesn't look good aesthetically to have some old man limping out there to see some player down."
The departure from NAU will open up much more time for Hershey, who is on call 24/7 for NAU in addition to his busy schedule when multiple sports are playing and his work for NACA. The retirement will mean five or six more weekends in town, no longer traveling to NAU's road football games.
For weeks in the fall when the Lumberjacks play at home in the Walkup Skydome, Hershey no longer will run through the occasional madness created when volleyball, football and soccer all play in Flagstaff.
"It will feel like I am retired. For instance in the fall, with five or six home football games, the way the powers at be schedule it, Wednesday afternoons I go over to the Dome," Hershey said, as he would see athletes for around five or six hours before the week's games got underway. "Thursday night was a volleyball game. Friday night was a soccer game. Saturday afternoon was a home football game, and then to volleyball. And Sunday afternoon was a soccer game again."
A LONG HISTORY
With NAU's current 15 athletic programs, coupled with a few other programs discounted in the past 48 years, roughly 5,000 athletes have come through the university while Hershey worked in the department.
The long-list of athletes came under Hershey's care after he himself ran track for Arizona State. Moving to Bisbee, Ariz. at 10 years old, Hershey graduated from high school in 1956 and earned a scholarship from ASU. Graduating from ASU in 1961 with a Bachelors of Arts in Education, Hershey served in the Marine Corps from 1961 to 1964.
Electing to pursue a career in medicine, just as his father had, Hershey graduated from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1968 and landed in Tulsa, Okla. for a one-year internship.
"It didn't take long for me to realize Tulsa, Oklahoma was not my bag of potatoes," Hershey said. "I really wanted to get back to Arizona, even though I'm not a native Arizonan, I was raised here. It was the only place I wanted to be."
Ruling out a return to Bisbee, saying he couldn't live up to his father's reputation, Hershey picked Flagstaff rather than other options such as Phoenix, Tucson, Prescott or Sedona. Opening his Flagstaff general practice in 1970, he soon found himself involved at NAU and Flagstaff High School as well.
During his tenure at NAU, Hershey also worked on a number of international teams through the years. With the USA Basketball Team needing a team physician last second for the 1986 Jones Cup in Taiwan, Hershey ended up with the position thanks to a connection through Nesbitt.
After volunteering at the USOC training center in 1988, Hershey worked with the national teams at various tournaments in the late 1980s and through the 1990s, highlighted by a place on the medical staff for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
CHANGES OVER THE YEARS
With a career spanning nearly five decades, Hershey said he's seen plenty of changes due to medical advancements and the athletes themselves.
Most notably, management of head injuries has been a crucial advancement.
"The athletes are more tuned in to their injuries, to their difficulties, to their problems," Hershey said. "It's not as difficult to have an athlete sit down... I don't have any problems with that anymore. They used to argue, argue, argue, 'Oh I can't do that, I need to get back.' I think they are coming forth with more admissions."
With a seven-day protocol for concussions, parents more concerned about the status of their children and athletes looking for treatment on off days more often, Hershey said it has seemed to be a more demanding job in recent years.
"I've been able to budget my time and pretty much get everything done," Hershey said. "Because of time, it seems to be busier and busier. Whether it's more injuries or demanding to be taken care of, it's hard to think that Nesbitt and I did it all for years."
Note: NAU Athletics will celebrate the incredible career of Dr. George Hershey on Saturday, May 25 at the High Country Conference Center in Flagstaff. The party is free of charge to attend and will include dinner, dancing, photo opportunities and a no-host bar. For more information, please contact Katie Colombini at 928-523-6151 or Katie.Colombini@nau.edu. 