Laura Richards joins the Hood athletic training staff as a graduate assistant athletic trainer for the 2012-13 year.

A native of Montgomery Village, Md., Richards graduated in May 2012 from West Virginia University with a bachelor of science degree in athletic training. At WVU, Richards treated student-athletes from the football, wrestling, men's and women's soccer, women's basketball and volleyball squads.

Richards also served as a first responder at the Gonzaga High School basketball camp, the West Virginia University women's soccer camp and the Maryland high school lacrosse all-star team tryout. She also interned with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs and at the University of Maryland football camp.

A member of WVU's athletic trainers association, Richards served as the organization's president her senior year. She was the recipient of the Jimmy Leard Scholarship in 2011 and was recognized as the Mountaineers' athletic training student of the month twice. A member of the National Athletic Training Association, board certified, and state licensed by Maryland Board of Physicians, she is also a member of the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Trainers Association and the West Virginia Athletic Trainers Association.

Richards is pursuing a master's degree in human sciences at Hood.