SUPPORT S TAF F BOB HOWA RD
DAV I D KAPLAN
Head Athletic Trainer
Director of Video Services
Bob Howard is entering his 24th year at UConn and currently oversees the entire athletic training staff at Connecticut for all sports. The 2012 season will mark his 23rd working directly with the Husky football team. Howard is a 1988 graduate of Connecticut with a degree in sport medicine and athletic training. He later earned his master’s degree in exercise physiology from UConn in 1991. Howard still spends time in the classroom, teaching students in the UConn athletic training program. He is a past president of the Connecticut Athletic Trainers Association and is the former public relations chairman for the National Athletic Trainers Association’s District I. In 2004, Howard received the Outstanding Kinesiology Award from UConn’s Neag School of Education and, in 2006, he received the Athletic Trainer of the Year Award from the Connecticut chapter of NATA. He also was given a NATA Service Award during the organization’s 2006 convention in Atlanta. Howard served as a student trainer at UConn from 1986-88 and as a graduate assistant trainer from 1988 to 1989. He also worked two pre-season training camps for the NFL’s New York Jets. Howard spent much of his youth in Urbandale, Iowa, before moving to Tolland, Conn. He and his wife, Stephanie, reside in Tolland, Conn., with their two daughters, Emily (16) and Nicole (14).
LUKE ROSS Assistant Athletic Trainer Luke Ross is entering his fourth year as an Assistant Athletic Trainer at UConn and works with the Husky football team. Ross is a 2006 graduate of Boston University with a bachelor of science degree in athletic training. He also has a master’s of arts in exercise and sports sciences from North Carolina-Chapel Hill, which he earned in 2008. Ross was an intern with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers in 2008-09 and performed numerous duties with that team including daily treatment, preventative care and rehabilitation. While at North Carolina, Ross worked with both the football and rowing teams. He served as a teaching assistant at both North Carolina and Boston University. Ross and his wife Megan reside in Vernon, Conn.
C HRIS STA SA ITIS Assistant Equipment Manager Chris Stasaitis is in his tenth season working on a full-time basis with the UConn football equipment staff and his 16th overall in UConn athletics. Stasaitis coordinates and oversees all phases of the football team’s equipment operations. Stasaitis began working in the UConn equipment room as a sophomore and spent the majority of his four undergraduate years assisting with football matters. He continued to work in the equipment room as a graduate assistant for two years while working towards his master’s degree before being promoted to a full-time position during the summer of 2003 and later assuming his current role in 2005. Stasaitis also gained professional experience as an undergraduate by spending summers working in a variety of capacities for the Northern League’s Waterbury Spirit in 1999 and the Atlantic League’s Bridgeport Bluefish in 2001. He is a certified member of the Athletic Equipment Managers Association. Stasaitis earned a bachelor’s degree in sports marketing from UConn in 2001 and in 2003 completed his master’s degree in sports management from UConn. A native of Waterbury, Conn., and a graduate of Sacred Heart High School, Stasaitis resides in Storrs, Conn.
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David Kaplan is entering his 18th year at UConn where he oversees all aspects of the day-to-day video operations for the UConn Division of Athletics, while also overseeing the production of feature stories used on UConnHuskies.com. He produces the audio and video board on game days at Rentschler Field and at UConn’s home basketball games. Kaplan joined the UConn staff in 1995 after serving as the assistant video director for three years at the United States Military Academy. Kaplan also served as video director for the New York/New Jersey Knights of the World League of American Football, the Connecticut Coyotes and Cincinnati Rockers of the Arena Football League and at Wagner College in Staten Island, N.Y. He also spent time as a video assistant with the NFL’s New York Giants. Kaplan attended the University of Northern Colorado and earned a degree from the Institute of Audio and Visual Research in New York City. He is a founding member of the Collegiate Sports Video Directors’ Association. Kaplan is a native of Brooklyn, N.Y. and currently resides in Tolland, Conn. He has a son, Bobby (19) and a daughter, Kelsey (17).
BR O C K W ER LI N G Assistant Director of Video Services for Football Brock Werling is in his first year as the Assistant Director of Video Services for Football after working in that position on an interim basis in 2011. Werling comes to Connecticut after serving as an Account Manager for DVSport Software from from June to October of 2011. He was a video intern for the Pittsburgh Steelers from July 2010 to April 2011 and had the same position at Bowling Green from August 2007 to July 2010. He served as an Operations Intern in the Bowling Green football office in the summer of 2007. Werling is a 2008 graduate of Bowling Green with a major in sports enterprise with a minor in business administration.
R EBEC C A DUN S T A N Assistant to the Head Football Coach Rebecca Dunstan is in her eighth season with the UConn football program and her second as the Assistant To Head Coach Paul Pasqualoni. In her role, Dunstan coordinates Pasqualoni’s schedule and manages his dayto-day requirements. She works with the Director of Football Administration in the coordination of various budgetary matters and special events. Rebecca serves as the support for the Director of Alumni and Community Affairs in matters relating to NFL scouts, coaching clinics and football alumnus. Prior to joining the football program, Dunstan worked in the UConn Undergraduate Admissions Office from 2001-05. In her role she supported various admission programs, aided in the planning of office events and prepared student-athlete correspondence. Dunstan graduated from Eastern Connecticut State University in 2000 with a degree in psychology with a focus in children and youth. A native of Connecticut, she resides in Storrs, Connecticut with her husband, Shane.