Michael Meyers '86

Michael C. Meyers, PhD, ‘86 received the 2016 Sports Trauma and Overuse Prevention (STOP) Injuries Award at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting in Colorado Springs in July.

Dr. Meyers was the first recipient of the prestigious award established in 2015 to recognize top research leading toward significant awareness and change in the prevention of traumatic and overuse injuries in youth sports. His seminal research has focused on the incidence, mechanisms and severity of game-related high school football injuries across artificial turf systems of various infill weight. “Based on the findings, it is recommended that high school football fields contain a minimum of six pounds per square foot of infill weight to optimize player safety on artificial surfaces,” Meyers commented. “With the amount of athletes playing football, and the setbacks associated with injuries, hopefully, this research will help decrease these numbers and make football safer for young athletes.” Dr. Meyers is an associate professor in sports science at Idaho State University, having received his master’s degree in animal science from Texas A&M in 1986 and his doctorate in kinesiology from Texas A&M in 1990. He is also Adjunct Associate Professor and Visiting Graduate Faculty with the Department of Psychology at Texas A&M.