JACKSON, Miss. – The Millsaps College Department of Athletics has named Joseph Toenjes its Director of Sports Medicine, announced on Friday. Toenjes brings nearly two decades of experience across two Major League Baseball organizations as well as at the professional, collegiate and high school levels.

Toenjas most recently spent two years as the Head Athletic Trainer at Adams State University, where he orchestrated the sports medicine department into a modern practice. During his time at the university, he managed and supported 14 different sports programs, developing a culture of injury prevention and recovery.

In 2024, Toenjes worked for three months in Arizona as a PRN Athelic Trainer. His responsibilities included covering practices and matches for a professional volleyball team broadcasted on ESPN as well as assisting with high school sports and weekend tournaments.

Between 2017 and 2024, Toenjes was the Athletic Director of Sports Medicine at Ottawa University in Surprise, Ariz., where he orchestrated a sports medicine department from the ground up the same month he joined the NAIA program.

Toenjes directed a staff of six trainers that covered and cared for 29 sports at the university. He also started the Sports Medicine Club that taught students the basics of athletic training to help those interested in the profession.

In December 2016, Toenjes spent time as the Athletic Trainer for the Milwaukee Brewers National League Baseball Club, Inc., delivering quality care to all Brewers players at the spring training facility in Phoenix, Ariz., as well as the Class A Advanced Carolina League team, the Carolina Mudcats.

Some of his responsibilities included overseeing injuries sustained during practices or games, managing and minimizing risks within the professional baseball setting, and providing proper treatment and ongoing athlete care to return the athlete to full performance.

Toenjes also served as the Athletic Trainer for the Atlanta Braves National League Baseball Club Inc. for five years before that. His main task was facilitating team travel, player changes and assisting with the pre-game food choices for the Braves players. He authored a shoulder and elbow strenthening program and a comprehensive nutrition program that are still in use by the Braves organization.

He also covered each March during spring training for the Braves in Florida. Additionally, Toenjes oversaw the Carolina-California All-Star Games in 2010 and 2013 as well as the Instructional League for four years.

Prior to that, he was the Head Athletic Trainer at NCAA Division II Newberry College from 2008 to 2010. During that time he also helped provide care for UCI Medical in South Carolina. In addition to athlete management, he also worked in the team doctor's sport rehab clinic during the off-season for the Newberry College football team.

In 2007, Toenjes began working as the Head Athletic Trainer at Rockledge High School in Florida where he provided quality care to all his student-athletes.

Toenjes graduated with his Bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida in 2007 and his earned a Master's in Leadership from Ottawa University in 2020.

Toenjes has been a member of numerous championship teams throughout his career, including the 2019 and 2021 Sooner Athletic Conference Football Champions as well as the 2019 and 2021 AVCA Small Schools Beach Volleyball Champions.

Prior to that, he completed a strength training internship with Donnie Thompson, the world's strongest powerlifter from 2008 to 2009, and was also part of the 2008 South Atlantic Conference Football Championship winning team.

Toenjes is BOC Certified as well as holds certifications in Dry Needling, Graston 1, Kinesio Tape and from the Gua Sha / Cupping course. 


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Founded in Jackson, Mississippi in 1890, Millsaps College is a national liberal arts college dedicated to academic excellence, open inquiry and free expression, the exploration of faith to inform vocation and the innovative shaping of the social, economic and cultural progress of our region. Consistently ranked as one of the best values in higher education, Millsaps has been praised by Colleges That Change Lives, The Princeton Review, Forbes Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, The John Templeton Foundation, and The Fiske Guide to Colleges.