By Gail Wood
As a trainer, he’s taped the ankles of the NBA’s biggest names – Pete Maravich, Gail Goodrich and Sydney Wicks.
Been on the game’s biggest stage – NBA All-Star game.
And worked for the game’s elite coaches – Bill Walsh, Marv Levy, Tex Winter and Jim Owens.
Now, Leo Marty, after being a trainer for the Cal Bears, Washington Huskies and Portland Trailblazers, is taping ankles for the Tumwater T-Birds.
Despite his pedigree, Marty is simply “Leo” to the players. He’s just the friendly trainer who is always quick with a smile, handshake and a “how you doing?”
“I don’t think most of the guys even know what he’s done,” said Walker Vanden Hazel, Tumwater tackle. “Everyone likes him just because of who he is. He’s the coolest guy.”
Every day in the fall, about 45 minutes before football practice, Leo sets up his “shop” just outside of the team’s locker room. He hangs a small wooden sign with “Leo’s room” written on it just above an old green bench that players hop up on to get their ankles taped.
Before a recent practice, he taped about 15 ankles, taped a jammed thumb and inspected a sore shoulder. As he taped, he talked, asking about an injury or simply exchanging friendly banter.
“He’s one of the nicest persons I’ve ever met,” said Daniel Hinkle, Tumwater quarterback. “The team really loves him.”
And Leo loves them right back. His pace is quick. His discussions with the players is lively, friendly. He doesn’t look or act like he’s 75.
“I do this because it keeps me young and because I love doing it,” Leo said.
He began taping ankles while at Whitworth College in Spokane during the late 1950s. In 1960, he became the trainer for the Cal Bears freshman football team, working with a young coach by the name of Bill Walsh. Levy was the head coach. Walsh and Levy are now in the NFL Hall of Fame.
In the fall of 1963, Leo took a job as a trainer for the Washington Huskies, working for Owens and the football team and Winter the basketball team. While at Washington for seven years, Leo saw the highlights – a 17-7 loss to Illinois in the 1964 Rose Bowl. And the low lights – a one-win season in 1969.
“My favorite time was working for Tex Winter,” Leo said. “It was challenging working under Jim Owens. He was very demanding.”
In 1970, Leo took the leap to the NBA and joined the staff as a trainer for the expansion Portland Trailblazers. But the 82-game schedule and the constant time on the road and being away from home wasn’t the life for him.
“My wife would count the nights that I was home in a month,” Leo said. “I was home 10 nights in a month. It was strictly business.”
In 1974, Leo was a trainer for the NBA All-Star game, giving him a chance to tape guys like Goodrich and Maravich.
“Pistol Pete was the hardest guy to tape,” Leo said. “He had size 16 feet. He had arch trouble and bunion trouble. It was tough. But he was a really nice guy.”
After four years with the Trailblazers, Leo left and went to Portland State University. When he retired in 1991, he moved to Tumwater and eventually was introduced to Tumwater football coach Sid Otton. A friendship was formed and Leo began working as Tumwater’s trainer in 2004. He’s also working six hours a day at the school as a tutor for special ed students.
In Leo’s career that spans over 50 years, he’s been at the apex of sports, working with the elite athletes at the pro and college level. But it here’s at a small high school in Tumwater that he’s most satisfied. It’s not the glitter of working with the big names.
“I get my satisfaction from people,” Leo said. “When it came to retiring, I decided I didn’t want to sit at home. I’m not a golfer. I don’t fish. I thought why not stay in sports, which I love. I believe we’re on this earth to be servants in some capacity.”
So, Leo volunteers as Tumwater’s trainer, doing every practice and game during football. In the winter, he does the home games for the boys and girls basketball teams.
“If I had a dollar for ever ankle he’s taped, or maybe even a dime, we’d be rich,” Otton said. “I know he enjoys it. We enjoy having him. The kids trust him.”
Today Leo wears two rings that have links to his past in sports. He wears a ring with a blue stone from 1974 All-Star game. And he wears a ring from the T-Birds state championship from last year.
And even though Leo doesn’t get a paycheck for working as Tumwater’s trainer, he said his reward is the friendship. It’s something that’s made him a rich man.
“I think being a trainer for high school is more satisfying than college or pros,” Leo said. “Because kids appreciate what you do. It’s not a business. I love it.”
