Melinda J. Flegel
Melinda J. Flegel has 27 years of experience as a certified athletic trainer. For 13 years, she was head athletic trainer at the University of Illinois SportWell Center, where she oversaw sports medicine care and injury prevention education for the university’s recreational and club sport athletes.
As coordinator of outreach services at the Great Plains Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Center in Peoria, Illinois, Flegel provided athletic training services to athletes at more than 15 high schools and regularly consulted with their coaches about sport first aid. As the center’s educational program coordinator and an American Red Cross CPR instructor, Flegel gained valuable firsthand experience in helping coaches become proficient first responders.
Flegel has taught a sports injury course at the University of Illinois. She holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Illinois, is a member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and has been a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist since 1987.
In addition to writing Sport First Aid, Flegel has written several book chapters, including Injury Prevention and First Aid for the Health on Demand textbook.