The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Hall of Honor
- Induction:
- 2010
Since being hired as the head women’s athletic trainer at The University of Texas in the fall of 1985, Bonci has spent the last 26 years working daily with student-athletes at UT. Bonci currently holds the title of Co-Director of Athletic Training/Sports Medicine for Intercollegiate Athletics. In addition to her role as Co-Director, she also serves as Assistant Athletics Director for Sports Medicine in the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. Under her direction, UT has developed a nationally-recognized health care model that demonstrates how a non-hierarchical team of campus and community experts – represented by conventional and complementary medical practitioners, university academicians and researchers, exercise scientists, coaches and administrators - can be integrated within the framework of higher education to meet the health care needs of student-athletes. During her tenure in Austin, Bonci and her staff have been instrumental in maintaining and promoting the health of student-athletes who have claimed 20 NCAA Championship team titles in seven different sports. In 2006, she received the Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer of the Year award from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA), a prestigious honor that recognizes unique and exceptional contributions to the profession through personal sacrifice and dedication. Bonci received the same recognition from the Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association in 2010. A noted speaker and lecturer on women’s health issues, Bonci has been published in numerous peer-reviewed sports medicine journals. She was lead author for the NATA position statement that delineated standards of care for detecting, managing and preventing disordered eating in athletes that was published in the Journal of Athletic Training in 2008. Bonci also served on the NATA Convention Committee, chairing the clinical program for its 50th Anniversary Meeting in Kansas City, and she currently serves as the chair of the clinical program for the Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association. Bonci is a veteran of numerous national team competitions. She was appointed by the United States Olympic Committee/Sports Medicine Council to the medical staffs of the boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympics and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. In 1984, Bonci served as head athletic trainer for the gold medal-winning U.S. Women’s Basketball team. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Lock Haven State College in 1977 and received her Master’s degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1979. At Lock Haven, she was a member of the first graduating class in the college’s specialized curriculum program in athletic training and was recognized with a Gold Whistle Award as one of the top graduating seniors in health and physical education. After graduate school, Bonci held a clinical appointment at the University of Pennsylvania Sports Medicine Center, a unique health care delivery facility at the time of its inception, providing complete diagnostic, in-patient and out-patient treatment for pediatric, adolescent, collegiate, professional and recreational athletes. In addition to her professional activities, she volunteers for the American Diabetes Association, having served on the Leadership Council of Central Texas for four years and as their top fundraiser for their signature walk event for three consecutive years.