When many in Bridgeport and throughout the area recall the name Elijah “Eli” Drummond, a person that helped the Indians football and baseball to multiple championships often comes to mind. Considering Drummond was a three-time state champion in both sports, that is not a bad thing.

 

Drummond’s playing days ended at the high school level in 2016 as a BHS graduate. It continued for the next several years at West Virginia University where he was a member of the Mountaineers football team before eventually graduating with a degree in exercise physiology in 2020.

 

The degree set the stage for physician assistant’s (PA) school at Marshall University. In April of this year, Drummond graduated from the school in Huntington and eventually would start his professional career in July.

 

That professional career has helped Eli Drummond come full circle. Today, he is a physician assistant for Joseph Fazalare, M.D., who specializes in sports medicine at United Hospital Center Orthopaedics here in Bridgeport. And he is helping Bridgeport High School athletes get healthy, along with plenty of other prep and college student-athletes from throughout the area.

 

“I love treating the kids from Bridgeport and telling them I played there if they don’t know. It is always a connecting point and usually leads to a lot of questions,” said Drummond. “They ask about (baseball) Coach (Robert) Shields and they ask me about (football assistant) Coach (Tom) Hilton and (football assistant) Coach (John) Cole. Even though I didn’t play for Coach (Tyler) Phares, I know him, and they ask about him. It makes the athletes comfortable and sometimes the conversations are interesting and unique.”

 

How Drummond ended up working for Fazalare was also unique. Although Drummond wanted to stay in the Bridgeport and Morgantown area, he did not have any concrete job leads even after he passed his board examinations in May.

 

“I actually got a text from Dr. Fazalare, and we set up a time to talk on the phone,” said Drummond. “He told me I could stay close to home and treat athletes in the area from college to high school, which is what I wanted to do. He ended up offering me a position and that’s how I’m at where I’m at today.”

 

It should be noted that Fazalare’s text was not a random stroke of coincidence. Instead, a family friend of Drummond’s happened to be a friend of Fazalare’s.

 

“It was Jason Piot (the BHS freshman football coach), actually, that hooked up the situation. He was telling him about me finishing up school and wanting to do sports medicine in the area,” said Drummond. “He trusted Jason’s opinion, which was big. Add to that we both love sports, hunting, and fishing, and it got things going. The interesting thing is that I never actually met Dr. Fazalare face to face until my first day of work.”

 

While Piot set things up to get the career started, the seed for the career goes back further. Along with a family history of working in the medical field, Drummond’s time at WVU put him in contact with Travis Randolph. Randolph, also a PA, is the Clinical Director of Sports Medicine with WVU Orthopaedics and Lead Physician Assistant for WVU Medicine.

 

“He took the time to show me what it was and what it was all about, and there was an immediate interest,” said Drummond. “He’s the reason I’m in this profession.”

 

Of course, it does not hurt to be involved with sports medicine and be a former Division I athlete. Drummond, who played without any significant injuries, said he has been around injured athletes enough that it provides benefits.

 

“It’s definitely helpful … I can connect with the athletes a little easier knowing I’ve done what they’re doing. I think it helps them to listen when I’m telling them what they can or can’t go through and offer little tips,” said Drummond. “It’s been beneficial in this field of work.”

 

Now in the field with a degree, passing the necessary certifications, and a job offer, the first day of work was in July. Early on, he would shadow Dr. Fazalare, and the other PAs in the facility. In particular, he would shadow another of Dr. Fazalare’s PAs, Dave Webster.

 

“He knows the ins and outs and has been so helpful. He’s always open to questions and Dr. Fazalare is open to questions too,” said Drummond. “That helped make things go much easier.”

 

Today, Drummond is seeing as many as 20 people daily on busy days, often entirely on his own. And it is not just on the sports medicine front.

 

“I see a little bit of everything in the clinic. You work a lot independently, and it can be sports related, but it could also be an elderly person dealing with something you need to work on,” said Drummond. “Even though I’m more comfortable, I’m still learning because there is always something coming into the clinic I’ve never seen. You have to adjust to those new things.”

 

Drummond is about to get one of those “new things” on the home front. He and his wife, the former Hanna Stolzenfels, are expecting their first child next month.

 

“Her and I have been together since middle school, and we’re both excited for our first child and both happy to be in Bridgeport,” said Drummond, who added his wife is an emergency room nurse at UHC. “We’re waiting to learn if it’s a boy or girl, but we know we want our child going to Bridgeport schools. It’s a good thing having that connection to the community, and you don’t get tired of it.”

 

Even if it comes with some good-natured ribbing.

 

“I ran into Bubby Swiger (former BHS standout and current youth football coach) on Thanksgiving at the football practice where former players are invited to come out,” said Drummond. “There were a lot of the players who are patients of mine who think it is hilarious I played for him. That’s okay; it just means I’ve been here a while. I hope to be here a while longer.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photos, all file shots by Ben Queen Photography, show Eli Drummond - in order - playing football at BHS, during senior day with his parents at WVU, and his senior year at Bridgeport on the baseball team. Fourth photo shows Eli working on a patient at UHC, while he and his wife Hanna are shown enjoying some sideline time at a recent WVU game.