General | 4/14/2026 3:32:00 PM

La Crosse, Wis. - Former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Head Athletic Trainer Scott Doberstein is set to be inducted into the 2026 Wisconsin Athletic Trainers' Association (WATA) Hall of Fame on Wednesday, April 15.

Doberstein will be honored at the WATA Awards Banquet, as part of the WATA Annual Meeting and Symposium at the Oshkosh (Wis.) Marriott Waterfront Hotel and Convention Center. He is lone inductee in this year's WATA Hall of Fame Class.

To be eligible for the WATA Hall of Fame, inductees must have 15 years of active membership in the WATA, be a Board of Certification for the Athletic Trainer (BOC), and made outstanding contributions to the WATA and/or the profession of athletic training at the local, state, regional and/or national level.

Raised in Germantown, Wisconsin, Doberstein earned his bachelor's degree in sports medicine and school health education from UW-La Crosse in 1987 and master's in exercise science from Eastern Illinois University in 1989. He served as head athletic trainer and assistant professor at Millikin University (Ill.) from 1989-98.

Doberstein returned to UW-La Crosse in 1998 to serve as head athletic trainer and lecturer. He was the Eagles' head athletic trainer for 16 years, the longest tenured person to serve in the position. Doberstein was promoted to teaching professor in 2008 and has been a full-time lecturer since 2014.

He has earned the WATA Distinguished Service Award (2005), UW-La Crosse's Provost Teaching Excellence Award (2014), UW-La Crosse Physician Assistant Program Instructor of the Year Award (2015) and the WATA Outstanding Educator (2016).

Doberstein has taught over 25 courses in the UW-La Crosse Exercise and Sport Science Undergraduate Programs and in the graduate programs of athletic training, physician assistant, physical therapy, clinical exercise physiology and nurse anesthesia.

He has delivered over 30 podium presentations, including WATA, GLATA, and NATA Conferences among others. Doberstein has compiled over 100 published manuscripts/abstracts, and served on approximately 110 undergraduate research and graduate theses committees, including chairing the WATA Student Education Committee for six years.

Since 2018, Doberstein has served the National Football League as an athletic trainer spotter.

Doberstein is married to Caryl, also a UW-La Crosse alumnus, and they have three children, all studying or employed in various medical fields.

The WATA is a professional membership association for licensed athletic trainers and others who support the athletic training profession in Wisconsin. The WATA was originally founded in 1976 and incorporated in 1990. The organization currently serves over 700 members in Wisconsin. Athletic Trainers are allied health professionals who provide care for active individuals. The mission of the WATA is to improve the quality of health care for the physically active in the state of Wisconsin by the promotion and advancement of the athletic training profession and the licensed/certified athletic trainer.