College - Wis.-La Crosse


Chuck Barta is in his sixth campaign as Head Athletic Trainer for the Minnesota Lynx this season. Barta adds more than two decades of experience as an athletic trainer to the Lynx staff, including 18 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings.

After earning his athletic training degree from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse in 1988, Barta worked two years as the Institute for Athletic Medicine’s athletic trainer in Eden Prairie, Minn. He volunteered as the Minnesota Junior Olympics’ athletic trainer and was interim athletic trainer for the University of Minnesota football in the spring of 1989.

Four seasons as a student athletic trainer during Vikings training camps prepared Barta to become the team’s full-time assistant athletic trainer in 1988. In 1996 Barta was honored as the Vikings were named the NFL Athletic Training Staff of the Year. In 2004 Barta was instrumental in developing the Safety Committee for the Vikings and worked to make the organization OSHA compliant. Barta was also a member of the NFL’s cardiovascular health subcommittee. In 18 NFL seasons, including seven as the team’s Head Athletic Trainer, Barta revolutionized the care and treatment of one of the NFL’s most successful franchises.

Barta worked with the Vikings until January 2006 when a coaching change prompted a change in training staffs. Since that time he has worked with the USA Gymnastics medical team, as a Triage Coordinator at the Fairview Sports & Orthopedic clinic in Burnsville, Minn., and provided athletic training coverage to local high schools through the Institute for Athletic Medicine. Barta also consults for HQ, Inc., makers of the Cortemp core body temperature monitoring system.

A native of Columbia Heights, Minn., Barta is a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association and Minnesota Athletic Trainers Association. He was vice president of the MATA from 1990-92 and served on the MATA Golf Tournament committee from 1993-02. He enjoys traveling, boating and fishing with his family as well as coaching his son and daughter’s youth sports teams.

Barta, his wife Chris, son Brandon and daughter Mackenzie reside in Maple Grove.