Ray Tufts enters his first year in 2024-25 as a member of the Santa Clara University Sports Medicine team, serving as an assistant director and working with the women's basketball program, and men’s and women’s rowing teams.
Before joining Santa Clara, Ray was an athletic trainer for many years with the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers and long-time head athletic trainer for the San Jose Sharks. During his tenure with the 49ers, he was a part of three Super Bowl Championships in 1988, 1989 and 1994. With San Francisco, He was instrumental in the quick recoveries of several 49ers players including former Broncos tight end Brent Jones, offensive tackle Harris Barton and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana.
A native of the San Jose area, Tufts graduated from Sacramento State in 1987 as a physical education major with an emphasis in athletic training. He received his National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) certification in 1987 and is an active member of the NATA District VIII Association, California Athletic Trainers Association (CATA) and is a past president of the Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers’ Society (PHATS).
Tufts worked his 2,000th National Hockey League game in December 2022 and served as head athletic trainer for the U.S. Olympic Team that won the silver medal at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. He also headed the training staff for the 1997 and 2019 National Hockey All-Star Games, both of which were hosted by San Jose. Tufts and his wife, Michelle, have a son, Henry, and reside in Los Gatos, Calif.
