A journey inspired by sports medicine and inspired by sports injuries

George McGovern knows how others can react when he works with a young athlete who has suffered a serious injury.

“I’m almost at the point where I feel like I don’t care,” McGovern said. “But I was taught early on that my emotional state is going to determine how that athlete and the parents watching what’s going on are going to handle the situation.”

McGovern has been practicing sports medicine since 2005 and joined Destrehan High School in 2008. He is about to begin his third year as athletic director at DHS, a job he does in addition to his coaching duties.

Those moments following a serious injury require immediate action and the composure that goes with it.

“You can’t get too emotional. You have to keep it under control,” McGovern said. “Everyone I work with keeps the same temperament – ​​we stay calm.”

Helping student athletes overcome injuries and return to action is one way to give back to McGovern, whose athletic career at Archbishop Hannan High School was cut short by injury.

“I remember coming back so quickly after an injury. It gives me a lot of joy to be able to help kids get through that and get back on the field,” McGovern said.

This experience was largely the catalyst for the career choice he made.

“When I was younger, I had a friend and his dad had his own physio clinic. When I got injured, I went to him and saw it as a way to stay involved in sports. I was also interested in the medical side of things,” he said. “So it was kind of a natural connection for me.”

Hannan is where he began his coaching career. After Hurricane Katrina — and the damage it caused to Hannan, which was then located in St. Bernard Parish before being relocated to Covington, where it is now — he joined St. Charles Catholic School until 2008, when he made the jump to Destrehan, where he also teaches sports medicine.

He has helped many athletes get back into shape and stay calm immediately after an injury. McGovern is proud of having contributed to all of this, but he also makes it clear that a strong team around him makes it all possible.

“I work with an incredible group of people, from Dr. Bill Johnson to Christie Frey to Greg Vicknair, and we have a great relationship with the therapists at PT Solutions. What we do at Destrehan would not be possible without them,” McGovern said.

“And for me personally, given the amount of time I’ve put into it, it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my wife and children.”

His interest in becoming an athletic director came largely from the fact that he was already heavily involved in every sport at school.

“Being constantly on campus training as an athlete led me to become more involved in the overall program over time,” he said. “I had great mentors like Clarence Dupepe, Kenny Montz and Paul Waguespack who helped guide me into my current role.”

Destrehan has earned a reputation as having one of the best athletic programs in the state, and McGovern says his goal is to build on that program.

“What people think of when they think of Destrehan, whether it’s athletics or the school itself, we’re always trying to improve,” McGovern said. “We’re going to build and grow that. I’m a big believer that athletics is the front porch of every school — it’s the first thing people think of visually.”

The most rewarding part of his job, ultimately, is seeing the students he has worked with progress in their lives.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to see a lot of these kids grow since they were in elementary school,” he said. “Seeing their growth when they come back and hearing the stories of what they’ve accomplished is what I really enjoy.”