PARSIPPANY — Dr. Philip Santiago of Lake Hiawatha is the first winner of the Roberto Clemente Sports Chiropractic Award, a prestigious new international award for outstanding voluntary service in sports chiropractic. The award, given by FICS (the Fédération Internationale de Chiropratique du Sport) and the FICS Foundation and sponsored by Logan University, was presented at the FICS Assembly and Symposium in Washington D.C. on March 15 by Roberto Clemente Jr and the presidents of FICS and its Foundation, Dr. Peter Garbutt of Australia and Dr. Sheila Wilson of the USA.
The award is named after one of baseball ‘s most famous stars, the Puerto Rican Roberto Clemente who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and was National League MVP in 1960, his final season before his tragic death in an airplane accident while delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He was a noted philanthropist and an outspoken supporter of chiropractic, which he credited with keeping his career alive.
Dr. Santiago, chosen from 13 final candidates after an international call for nominations, graduate of FDU and the New York Chiropractic College where he serves as Chairman of the Department of Sports Medicine. He is widely recognized as one of the foremost leaders in Chiropractic Sports Medicine and the development and delivery of postgraduate sports chiropractic education, in the USA and internationally.
He has provided extensive voluntary sports chiropractic care to athletes and teams in his own community, nationally and internationally up to and including the Olympic Games, serving on the USOC medical team at the Olympics Games and the USOC Sports Medicine Committee. As Secretary-General of FICS he oversaw sports chiropractic medicine world-wide, including the World Games, Pan American and the Olympic Games. He was the first inductee to the Hall of Fame of NJ Sports Chiropractic Medicine as well in as induction to the national Sports Chiropractic Medicine Hall of Fame.
A former All American and Professional soccer player he served as head men’s soccer coach at NY Institute of Technology and Montclair State University. Locally he serves as Commissioner of the Morris County Sheriffs Crimestoppers as well as having served as Commissioner of Morris County Parks and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the County College of Morris. For further information please contact Christina Davis at cdavis@fics-sport.org.
