Chico State Athletics

 
Everybody has a story. Some rarely get told—like those of collegiate athletic trainers. During National Athletic Training Month, however, we're telling the stories of Chico State Athletics' three outstanding athletic trainers: Scott Barker, Halie Hall and Devin Tacla. We're excited to share them with you because they really are amazing.
 
Read about Scott Barker HERE and Halie Hall HERE.
 
Tacla's story begins in the small town of Graton between Santa Rosa and the California coast. It's about a father, Rick, who spent quality time with his sons, instilling in them a love for sports and showing them how to put broken cars back together. He coached all three boys (Craig, Devin and Keith) and owned Rick's Automotive in downtown Forestville (a few miles up Highway 116 from Graton).
 
"He would have three different little league uniforms and three different hats for the three teams he was coaching. He would change between games," Tacla said. "Athletics was folded into everything we did. I had just grown up around athletics. I was the little kid in the stands with the scorebook or working chain gang at a football game… just helping out wherever I could."
 
The irony—his dad working on cars and him working on student-athletes—is not lost on Devin.
 
"We've had some chuckles about that for sure. I sure can fix a car a lot faster than I can a person, though. People take months and months, and sometimes years to fix. If I had half a brain I probably would have worked on cars," Devin joked.
 
But he didn't fall in love with cars. Tacla fell in love with sports. (His brother, Keith, now runs the Auto shop.)
 
Devin played baseball, basketball and football at El Molino High School and then went on to play baseball at Santa Rosa Junior College. Meanwhile, his older brother, Craig, was at Chico State and part of the 1997 NCAA Championship baseball team.
 
"I came up here and saw Nettleton Stadium being built. It was awesome," Tacla said. "I came to visit (Craig) quite a few times and fell in love with Chico. Before I knew it, I was coming up to Chico."
 
Tacla arrived in fall of 1999. But his baseball plans were cut short when he was cut from the team, which was stacked with talent following two Division II College World Series titles in three years.
 
When life closes one door, it often opens another. It can feel awful for a little while, however. Tacla spent some time away from athletics, but it didn't feel right. It did not take him long to return.
 
"I began to think about my experiences with Byron Craighead (The Head Athletic Trainer Santa Rosa JC and the father of Chico State women's soccer alumna Jenny Craighead) from when I had a few nicks and bruises as a student-athlete," said Tacla. "Plus, I had taken Introduction to Athletic Training (then Kinesiology 116, and now 316) and I found it fascinating, so I decided to go talk to Scott (Barker)."
 
It was the spring of 2000 and Tacla's second semester at Chico State.
 
"He gave me the well-rehearsed speech that I know now like the back of my hand," remembers Tacla. "It's the same one he gives to everyone that comes in to say they want to be an athletic trainer."
 
The difference between Tacla and most: his response. He committed and dove into the deep end.
 
"Scott basically had like an excel workbook but it was on a chalkboard," Tacla said. "It was totally voluntary and you would sign up for the hours you wanted to work. Luckily, all my classes were in the mornings and I had all the afternoons off. For me, it was every day at 1 o'clock. That very soon became: 'Hey what are you doing this weekend? We've got some games. Want to work them?'"
 
Tacla says that everything about this new direction felt right. He loved being around sports. He understood the rules of engagement and loved the opportunity to learn something new almost every day. He soaked up the storytelling.
 
"It didn't even feel like work to me. It felt like it was the trajectory I had been on since I was little," Tacla said. "So much of the skillset I needed I had from sports. You show up when you say you're going to. You engage, and you learn. Sometimes it goes smoothly and sometimes you step in it. But, if you pay attention and keep your mouth shut, then when the opportunity arises, you can get (Barker) going and learn 50 things all in one sitting. I loved it. I just soaked it up. It resonated with me."
 
He was hooked.
 
"It gave me something to dive into with that same type of determination, effort and prep that athletics gave me," Tacla said. "It gave me a new avenue to channel that. It was my new practice."
 
The fit went both ways. In Tacla, Barker saw a strong mix of talent and dedication.
 
"When Devin was a student I knew he was someone I wanted around," Barker said. "I remember my first student evaluation with him, I told he had the skills to be very good but had to decide to commit. He did.
 
"After years of experience, his clinical skills at evaluating injuries and acute trauma are as good as anyone's."
 
Like so many before him, Tacla was forced to look for work outside of Chico. There were only two full-time positions at Chico State, and both were taken. So, after earning his master's degree and spending one year as a part-time graduate assistant, he was off to Notre Dame de Namur to become the new head athletic trainer.
 
He was only there for one semester, though, before landing a job at Sacramento State, and reuniting with his brother, Craig, who was a professor there.
 
Both jobs were full of learning experiences.
 
"At Notre Dame de Namur I was alone at first and the facilities were spread out all over the place. It was tough but I figured out how to make it work," Tacla said. "At Sac State, the Division I level, the experience was completely different. I learned a lot, but unfortunately, one of the things I learned was: 'Oh, this is what a job feels like.'"
 
A few months into that gig, Tacla got the phone call that brought him back home.
 
"Scott told me that there was a job open and asked me how I felt about coming back," Tacla recalls. "A few days later I was packing up the truck."
 
That was in 2006. Tacla has been a fixture in the Acker Gym hallway and athletics facilities ever since.
 
Tacla remembers one comment, from legendary men's track and field coach, Kirk Freitas, that was especially encouraging as he began this new position.
 
"He told me: 'It's good to have you back. You're a Wildcat at heart and you belong here.' That meant a lot."
 
The fit was great for Tacla and Chico State athletics. He was back in a smaller town. Back in a bustling athletic training room that served the entire department. Back with a mentor he respected and wanted to learn from. He was back to diagnosing problems and challenging himself to find solutions. He was back on a team and looking for ways to help it succeed.
 
"What I have always loved about Chico State is that it really is all about being a good teammate," Tacla said. "You plug in, be a good member of the Wildcat Family—it's like being a good family member—and you lend a hand and help out when you can. That's how we get this whole thing done every year."
 
During his 14-plus years, Tacla, along with the athletic training profession, has continued to evolve.
 
"The biggest change I've made is really understanding the impact it can have when you really connect with someone when they walk through that door," Tacla said. "At the end of the day, I want to help fix an injury. But, I also see the whole student-athlete. They have a lot going on and they need someone who will listen. Sometimes there's as much going on with their mental health as there is with their physical health. I try to take everything in and then treat the whole patient."
 
Once the whole picture comes into view (like how Devin Tacla became a certified athletic trainer and vital member of the Wildcat Family) everything seems to make more sense.
 
Do you know a Wildcat who deserves to be considered for a Wildcat of the Week honor? We're looking for current student-athletes who are making you proud athletically, academically, and/or in the community. If you have an idea, please take a moment to let us know by completing this five-question survey.