BILOXI – Jones College head athletic trainer Stephanie Smith has received a major honor.
 
Smith has been named the 2024-25 Mississippi Athletic Trainer Association's (MATA) Collegiate Athletic Trainer of the Year.
 
"I am very honored and humbled to receive this award," Smith said. "I have the privilege of working with some amazing athletic trainers across the MACCC and other colleges and universities."
 
The recipient is nominated by a fellow ATC in the state of Mississippi and is then voted on by the MATA executive board. 
 
Smith received the award Tuesday evening at the MATA Symposium Honors and Awards Banquet at the IP Hotel and Casino.
 
"I take a lot of pride in providing healthcare to our athletes at Jones College," she said. "As an ATC in the college setting, I am able to treat the athlete from the time of initial injury to them returning to the field or court and that is an amazing feeling to see that athlete participate in the sport that they love."
 
Smith will be entering her eighth year this fall as head athletic trainer at Jones where she trains and cares for all 12 Bobcat sports. She has been a certified athletic trainer for 17 years and is employed by Hattiesburg Clinic Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine. 
 
The Kosciusko native is a member of the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA), Mississippi Athletic Trainers' Association and is also an American Heart Association CPR instructor.
 
Smith attended Holmes Community College where she was a member of the dance team, the HCC Dazzlers, played soccer for one year and began working as a student athletic trainer.
 
After junior college, she transferred to Southern Mississippi and attained a bachelor's degree in athletic training in 2004 and her master's in exercise science with a concentration in sports psychology in 2023 from Pennsylvania Western University.
 
She is married to Jamie Smith and they have two teenage children, John Louis and Avery. The family resides in Sumrall.