About Inductee

Versatile: Having a wide range of skills, aptitudes or interests. Just the definition of the word perfectly describes Dr. Amy Carter. She excelled in six varsity sports soccer, volleyball, cross-country, indoor track, tennis and basketball while attending Huntsvilles Randolph School and even played on the boys varsity soccer team, becoming the first girl to play in the AHSAA Boys State Soccer Tournament. I had to play with the boys because that was the era where some girls teams werent as big back then and there werent as many opportunities for most girls, said Carter of her years at the private school where she graduated in 1993 with a 4.6 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) and earned the Bowden Academic Scholarship to Emory University in Atlanta. Honestly, it was good that I competed against the guys. That experience raised my level of play and helped me get into college. As a sophomore at Randolph, she was named the MVP in volleyball and first-team All-State in basketball. Her junior year, she was first-team All-State in basketball, placed second in the state two-mile relay in track and was No. 1 singles in tennis, winning Area and Region titles. As a senior, she was first-team All-State in basketball, received the Amateur Athletic Union/Mars Milky Way High School All-America Award, played in the soccer state tournament for the third consecutive year, and was named Randolph Schools Best All-Around Athlete. At Emory University, Carter was a four-year starter in both soccer and basketball and earned first team All-American honors in both sports. In her senior year of 1997, she was named the NCAA Division III Female Athlete of the Year. She was later inducted into the Emory Sports Hall of Fame. Her guidance came from an array of both male and female inspirations especially her mother, who coached the majority of Carters teams while her father worked full time in the U.S. Military. Carter looks back to her older brother, Andy, who also helped her hone her skills in athletics and inspired an intense, fierce competitiveness that pushed her to perfection. Oh, yes, my brother was definitely a big part of my growth in sports and giving me that competitive edge, said Carter. If I didnt have that competitive drive that both my brother and mother instilled in me, I couldnt have competed at the level I managed to reach." Upon completion of her education, Carter pursued a career as a medical doctor at UAB Medical School with specialty training in sports medicine, particularly from SportsMED Orthopedic Surgery & Spine Center. From 2005-2014 she was the volunteer team physician for the entire athletic program at UAH. Today, at age 41, she is a family physician at Cove Family & Sports Medicine. She has a set of young twins, Elizabeth and Jacob, who are 2 years old. Born in Framingham, Mass., in 1975, when Rhinestone Cowboy" and Fame" were the hit songs of the day, Carter would soon ride into her own fame shining like a real diamond rather than an imitation. She was and remains the real deal. Upon her familys move to the Huntsville area in 1986 when she was 10 years old, she soon began to adapt to her new surroundings through her athletic talents and quickly gained the friendships of not only her teammates but also her opponents, who noticed the bold style of athleticism, sturdy specialized skills and deep-rooted competitive fire to win. My coaches in both high school and college, especially Sue Marshall, Michael Sabatelle and Myra Sims, played big roles in my athletic career by teaching me the values of self-discipline and leadership, said Carter. My father helped balance out the strong competitiveness by making me focus on the importance of enjoyment of athletics. Dr. Carter credits her legion of experiences in sports and some of her own injuries suffered during competition in guiding her work as a physician. Others now use her shoulders to lean on during an illness or injury, and she responds swiftly and accurately in much the way she was treated during her years of athletics. Those experiences around athletics introduced her to the field of medicine. I realized in medical school this was what I wanted to do, said Carter. Im glad Im in the medical field and enjoy what I do. Both her parents and brother were always involved in some type of sports. It was only natural Carter would be alongside her family in athletics. Now, she will have her place beside so many others who have earned their place in the Huntsville- Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame, which honors those of athletic versatility.