No one writes about guys like Ben Carbajal.
I’m going to give it a shot.
For 33 years and 11 months, Ben’s been an athletic trainer at Pima College.
He’s been married for almost 23 years — he has three daughters — and has lived in the same Tucson house for 20 years.
Save a one-year stint in West Texas, after he received his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the UA, Pima has been the trainer’s only job.
And it probably will be the last for the 57-year-old.
I learned about Ben when he won the Bill Chisholm Professional Service Award, which is presented by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s Ethnic Diversity Advisory Committee.
He put on a dark pinstriped suit — no tie — and picked up the award at the association's convention in St. Louis two weeks ago.
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“I didn’t know what to think,” he said. “Those are emotionally uncharted waters for me.
“I’m not used to being the center of attention.
“I’m used to being in the center, doing things.”
You’d miss Ben if you didn’t know where to look. But when players return to campus years after graduation, they bring their children to meet Ben.
Read more in Tuesday's Arizona Daily Star.
