TACOMA – After 50 years in prep sports as a team physician, last month’s Mat Classic XVI state wrestling tournament was just another opportunity for F.R. “Dick” Sutherland to a perform a task that is rarely seen as a job, but rather a love.

Or so he thought.

“People may have thought I had a little twinkle in my eye,” said Sutherland, who spent more than 30 years at Mount Si High School before moving out of the area. “But it was actually a tear.”

Sutherland, who has graciously given his services as team physician for the past five decades, received the prestigious Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) Executive Director’s Award in front of 15,000 people in the Tacoma Dome on Feb. 21. In addition, he received awards from both Ilwaco High School and Mount Si for his service to each of the schools.

The man who was has treated hundreds of sports injuries over the years, and who arguably knows as much about the players as the coaches, had no idea he was receiving the award.

“It really socked me when I saw [daughter] Ann [of San Diego],” said Sutherland, who was greeted by his entire family. “All these awards were a complete surprise.”

To give one some idea of the importance of the award, it was last given more than a dozen years ago.

Sutherland already is a member of the WIAA hall of fame. He has volunteered his time at home football, basketball and wrestling contests at Ilwaco for more than 14 years and did the same for more than 36 years at Mount Si. He has been team doctor for more than 2,500 athletic contests.

The value of his services, always given without charge, would amount to a small fortune.

Sutherland began his career at Mount Si in 1954, fresh out of his medical residency after moving to the Valley with wife Charlene prior to graduating.

In three decades Sutherland accumulated many fond memories at Mount Si.

“We were playing Bothell in 1962, the night of a big storm – Columbus Day storm I think. The lights went out at halftime and we were ahead,” said Sutherland. “We had to go back the next day and got beat.”

“Another time, we were doing pretty well against Bothell, and the ball got snapped way over the quarterback’s head and into the end zone. [Coach Jim] North said he wasn’t going to mention the ball that went into orbit, then he talked for a half hour about it,” Sutherland said.

There were some amazing athletes over the years as well.

“Mark Venn was an amazing athlete and Dave McConkey was a great football player. In one game they gave him the ball 18 times in a row. But I can’t remember if we won or lost, but it was remarkable, his durability,” said Sutherland.

“Then there was the grandstand fire. [Daughter] Sue was in her first year at WSU, about 1975. I ran up into the press box to help Mr. Scott who was in his 60s. There were four or five guys up there. We got out with just some scorching. Then I went and checked on him at home to make sure he was OK.

After many happy years in the Valley, the Sutherland’s decided to move to the Illwaco in the 1990s.

“In 1990, when Dr. L. D. Neace retired, Dad decided the Peninsula would be a nice place to retire so we moved here while he worked a few more years. That was 15 years ago and he still has no intention of retiring,” said Sue Freese, Sutherland’s daughter who is a pharmacist in the Ilwaco area.

The Sutherland’s move to the Peninsula was in no small part due to the influence of Don Lee, Ilwaco’s 1959 state basketball championship coach. Lee moved to Mount Si in 1963 and his family and the Sutherland’s became fast friends and spent many a vacation at Long Beach.

Years of accolades and awards were a team effort for the Sutherlands. So when the family left the Valley, Charlene thought her days of hitting the prep fields and gyms were over.

“I never thought we’d start all over with highschool sports when we moved from Mount Si,” said Charlene. “If I want to be with him, I have to go the games.”

“I count being asked to be Ilwaco’s team physician as one of the shining moments of my career,” said Sutherland. “The only difference between here and Mount Si is the color of the uniforms.

“The driving conditions and my work at Columbia Medical Clinic keep me from going to the away games, that is until tournament time. Then I follow the teams all the way to state,” he added.

For Doc Sutherland a successful game is, “one where I’m only a spectator.

“My practice keeps me too late to do much pregame preparation for the athletes, so staying on the sidelines and having no injuries to tend to is the way I like it,” he said.

The most sobering event of Sutherland’s tenure came when a Mount Si football player was upended and landed on his helmet directly in front of him.

“It was not until I placed a neck collar on the player that I realized it was my son, Steve,” Sutherland said. “Luckily, the good Lord saw to it that he was not hurt seriously. I feel very fortunate there haven’t been any crippling injuries during the games I’ve attended.”

In addition to his duties as team physician, Sutherland has received unique opportunities such as taking over coaching duties midgame and being penalized, even though he was neither coaching nor playing.

While at Mount Si, the team trailed 20-0 at halftime and the regular coaches were so disappointed they didn’t enter the locker room. Sutherland did what came naturally.

“I was taping ankles, so finally I told the players, ‘You guys know what to do. Offensive guys go over there and talk it over and defensive guys do the same over here.,'” he said. “Lo and behold, they came back to win 21-20!”

Another time Sutherland got so upset with a call in a game against Bethel that he received a 15-yard penalty from the official.

“When I told the ref I wasn’t a coach ,he changed the call to only a 5-yard penalty. That hurt my feelings, only getting five yards,” he chuckled.

Sutherland has treated every imaginable injury that can happen at a sporting event, from a referee having a coronary at halftime to a cheerleader who landed on her head in a stunt.

“These cheerleaders were doing a pyramid at a basketball game at Rochester, we were up there for the first game. Our game was the second game and just before the game, the cheerleaders were practicing a pyramid. They dropped a cheerleader on her head I had to stay for the whole game with her until the mother got there to for transport to the hospital, but there was nobody else to help.” said Sutherland. “I think we won the game though.”

Not too much has changed in high school athletics over the past 50 years, according to Sutherland.

“Football and wrestling haven’t changed. Tennis, track and volleyball are about the same. The biggest changes are in basketball. The games are faster, more aggressive and more thrilling to watch,” said Sutherland. “Old films of games were pretty sedate to watch, now they wander all over the place.”

He has also noticed a change in the support structure for athletes. In 1954, the place to be on a Friday was at the football game with Mom, Dad, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

“There aren’t as many family members at the games, so the dynamics of families have changed.

Sutherland has no plans to retire, nor stopping as a team physician. The next time you are at an Ilwaco game, look to the sidelines and you are likely to see Doc.

Kevin Heimbigner of the Chinook Observer contributed to this story.