IF YOU’RE A LONGTIME FOLLOWER OF BEAVER ATHLETICS, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of someone called “Ropes.” You may even have seen his photo in Gill Coliseum. But just who is this Ropes, who has achieved an almost mythical status at OSU? How did he get that name? And what does he have to do with the College of Health? William (Bill) “Ropes” Barr Robertson, 1915–1980, dedicated his 34-year career to athletic training at Oregon State. In addition to serving as OSU’s first athletic trainer, he was instrumental in creating the athletic training education program now housed in the COH. OSU graduate, BS ’80, and the newest inductee into the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) Hall of Fame, Katie Walsh Flanagan, MS, EdD, LAT, ATC, remembers Ropes as being larger than life. “He was a big, but very quiet man. When he spoke, people listened. He had a tremendous sense of humor. He was also very kind and championed behind the scenes. He taught by example, and nothing — I mean nothing — bothered him on the field or court. I learned to trust my training, that the patient athlete is to be protected, and that our job is to find a safe way for athletes to participate in sport.” Bill loved the outdoors and first came to OSU as a forestry major in 1937, where he became known for his performances on KOAC Radio’s “Foresters in Action.” His talent for performing would eventually become as renowned as his care. After he became OSU’s first and only athletic trainer, he was affectionately called “the poet laureate of the training room,” and his rendition of “Casey at the bat” is the stuff of legends. Robert Kersey, BS ’81, the first OSU graduate to be inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame, met Ropes in 1975 as a freshman athletic training student and remembers this rendition on multiple occasions, especially people’s smiles as Ropes “painted a picture with his words.” He also remembers Ropes’s quiet, light-hearted humor, gentle way, and contagious kindness and empathy. “I was extremely fortunate to learn from a man with such a heart for others,” he says. “ROPES” IS BORN Before he began his long career at OSU, Ropes answered the call to duty, and he was later honored with a Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his service. From 1942–45, he served in the 10th Mountain Division and was known for his mountain climbing prowess and for wearing rope-soled shoes. While serving in Italy, he was given the moniker “Rope-Sole,” which was abbreviated to “Ropes” shortly after he joined OSU in 1946. The nickname is credited to Bill’s war-buddy Gene Winters. According to Ropes’s wife, Mary, Gene strolled OSU’s legendary athletic trainer WILLIAM ROBERTSON CO-LED CREATION OF AT’S ACADEMIC PROGRAM BY KATHRYN STROPPEL “ROPES” Groundbreaking Leadership 8 ▴ College of Health
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