by Siri Stevens
Dr. Chris Miller, the VP of the KHSRA, has been involved with the high school association for 20 years. He got started through his specialty in sports medicine and Kansas High School rodeo came up as a perfect fit. The orthopedic surgeon, practicing in Wichita, spends most of his free time going to rodeos and taking care of his ranch – horses and dogs. Over the past 20 years, Chris has seen a lot of change in the association. “One of the neatest changes I’ve seen is the development of the computerized membership and rodeo results and this has helped organize the state secretaries. In Kansas, we have had several national champions since 2003. The first year I was there, we only had two competitors in the short go and we’ve had a number of national champions since then.” Kansas High School is one of the charter members for the National High School Association since its beginnings in the 1950s and the association has grown to more than 140 members from all over the state. “When we go to Nationals, all the members get team shirts from Cinch, a coat from Carroll Original Wear, and they camp together and have a team picnic during the week.”
Chris goes to Rock Springs not only representing KHSRA, but he brings a team of six other colleagues to serve as the official sports medicine team for both the National Junior High Finals and the National High School Finals. On average, his team sees 200 people during the week with every kind of injury. “We are there to compliment the services provided by the excellent emergency medical team and work together with them to evaluate injuries in the arena.” He has been leading this team for ten years and calls it his working vacation. “I love it,” he said. “You do it because it’s needed and it’s been such a rewarding experience in the relationships I’ve made over the last 20 years. There are things you do in life for money and certain things you do for love, and the value that comes from this isn’t measured in dollars.”
