Devoted career to the safety of athletes
A memorial service will be held in early 2008 for Dr. Barry Goldberg, chief of athletic medicine at the Yale Health
Plan for the past 17 years and a clinical professor of pediatrics at the
School of Medicine, who died Sept. 25 at the age of 63. (Details about the
service will appear in a future issue of this newspaper.)
T H I S
Goldberg had a profound and lasting influence on the health, safety and well-being
of athletes both at the University and in the wider community through his service
as a Yale physician, a member of or consultant to state, national and international
groups related to athletics, an adviser to various school and recreational
sports programs, and as a team physician, among other contributions.
“His dedication to the health and well-being of Yale athletes was evident
to all who worked with him and to the many students he cared for,” said
Dr. Paul Genecin, director of Yale University Health Services (YUHS), and Dr.
Michael Rigsby, medical director of YUHS, in a joint statement announcing Goldberg’s
death in September. “His presence on the playing fields in good seasons
and bad, running out to evaluate and assist a fallen player, suturing a cut,
splinting a twisted ankle and generally cheering on the teams, is an image that
is indelibly etched in the memories of all who enjoy sports at Yale.”
At Yale, Goldberg directed the medical services for the varsity sports program
comprising 1,200 varsity athletes, as well as the club sport program. He also
provided care to scores of other athletes as a physician at YUHS. At the School
of Medicine, he implemented and instructed a sports medicine elective for pediatric
residents and provided sports medicine lectures for the pediatric training
program.
A graduate of Queens College in 1964 and Downstate Medical Center in 1968,
Goldberg completed his pediatric training at Yale-New Haven Medical Center.
He practiced pediatrics at the Yale Health Plan and then in Milford, Connecticut,
before completing a fellowship at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York at the Nicolas
Institute of Sports Medicine. He later returned to Yale to head the sports
medicine program.
For more than 25 years, Goldberg was the medical director of the Amity Regional
School District, and also served as a consultant in sports medicine to the
Milford and Stratford school systems, Fairfield University, the American Medical
Association (on pre-adolescent sports), the American Academy of Pediatrics,
the National Association for Sports and Physical Education, the American College
of Sports Medicine Youth Sports Council, the Volvo Grassroots Tennis Program
and the American Equestrian Association. He was vice chair of the Connecticut
State Committee on Sports Medicine and was on the international board of the
Global Wealth Initiative, among other involvements.
The Yale physician had worked with the New York Knickerbockers, the New York
Jets and the New York Rangers, and became the team physician for the New Haven
Ravens, a Class AA baseball team, in 1994.
In 1993, Goldberg was appointed chair of the USA Baseball Medical and Safety
Advisory Committee, and in 2003 he was named to the medical advisory committee
of Major League Baseball. For more than a decade, he held prominent positions
within Little League Baseball International and was elected to its board of
directors in 1996. His service to Little League included work on overuse syndromes
among young baseball pitchers. He was instrumental in helping the Little League
develop several recent changes to the rules and regulations, including the
league age determination date and its pitch count regulation.
Goldberg also participated in the protocols of three published USA Baseball-sponsored
articles dealing with baseball injuries and the safety of players. In 2002,
he edited “Play Safe,” an educational National Football League
manual for coaches and parents sponsored by the National Football League. More
than 60,000 sets have been distributed.
Goldberg also provided review articles on Creatine supplementation, smokeless
tobacco, child abuse, lighting and stress fractures, as well as articles relating
to sports for children with chronic health conditions. He published numerous
articles on medical evaluation and screening, prevention of injuries, exercise
testing, follow-up care and pre-participation (in sports) exams. He spoke nationally
about sports, health and safety.
Goldberg is survived by his wife, Betty, his partner for 46 years; his children
and their spouses, Mickey and Sheri Goldberg, Rachel and Jeff Gell and Dr.
Daniel Goldberg; his mother, Elsie; his sister, Barbara; and four grandchildren,
Jordan, Emily, Scott and Sydney. Tax deductible contributions in his memory
may be made to the Barry Goldberg Children’s Center Fund at www.globalwealthinitiative.org
or Global Wealth Initiative Inc., 4359 Cordero Dr., El Dorado Hills, California
95762 (telephone: 916- 941-8459).
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IN MEMORIAM
Dr. Barry Goldberg, devoted career to the safety of athletes
Dr. James Kenney, was the ‘doctor’s doctor’ to many
Dr. Nicholas Spinelli, was active in alumni affairs
Longtime professor Stanton Wheeler dies on Dec. 7
Memorial service for Eugene Waith
Stately affairs
Campus Notes
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