Scholarships Honoring Legendary Trainers Boost Student Aspirations

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Yuri Hosokawa, front row, from left, Kathryn Johnson, Jacqueline Laird and Rachel York won the Bill Ferrell Endowed Scholarship in Athletic Training. Jessica Cohen, back, won both the Ferrell Award and the Dean Weber Endowed Scholarship in Athletic Training.

Five young women have earned scholarships to help them follow in the footsteps of the legendary Razorback athletic trainers for whom the scholarships are named.

Jessica Cohen, Yuri Hosokawa, Kathryn Johnson, Jacqueline Laird and Rachel York are enrolled in the Master of Athletic Training degree program in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas. They are the 2012 recipients of the Bill Ferrell Endowed Scholarship in Athletic Training. Cohen also won the Dean Weber Endowed Scholarship in Athletic Training presented to the top student in the athletic training education program.

The recipients will be honored at a homecoming day brunch Nov. 3 on campus.

Former University of Arkansas football players who played under the care of Dean Weber and the late Bill Ferrell established the scholarships. Weber supervised the athletic training operations for men’s sports teams for 35 years and now oversees equipment operations for all 19 Razorback teams. Ferrell was head baseball coach and head athletic trainer from 1950 to 1967. He died in 1967.

All five of the student recipients are in the second year of the program and plan to graduate next spring. The master’s degree will prepare them to work in all kinds of sports and all levels of competition as well as in clinical settings.

Cohen, of St. Charles, Ill., graduated from St. Charles North High School and earned a Bachelor of Science in health policy and human organizational development from Vanderbilt University. She is the daughter of Marci and Michael Cohen of Charlotte.

Hosokawa graduated from International Christian University High School in Tokyo and earned a Bachelor of Arts in sport sciences from Waseda University in Tokyo. She is the daughter of Mayumi and Koichi Hosokawa of Tokyo.

Johnson graduated from Gov. John R. Rogers High School in Puyallup, Wash., and earned a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology and a Bachelor of Arts in fine art from Western Washington University. She is the daughter of Susan and Bruce Johnson of Puyallup.

Laird graduated from Har-Ber High School in Springdale and earned a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology from the University of Arkansas. She is the daughter of Barbara and John Laird of Springdale.

York graduated from high school in St. Clair, Mo., and earned a Bachelor of Science in exercise science from Wichita State University. She is the daughter of Janet and Randy York.

Each student is doing a clinical rotation with a sports team this semester: Cohen, Arkansas football; Hosokawa, Arkansas gymnastics; Johnson, Arkansas soccer; Laird, Rogers High School athletics; and York, Arkansas baseball.