Making Athletic Trainers a Standard in Campus Recreation

July 1, 2020

Patient care has always been an aspect of athletic training that has drawn Jenna Morogiello (’17) to the field and now in her current role as the Coordinator of Injury Prevention and Care at Campus Recreation and Intramurals (CRI) at Georgia Southern University, she spends her time evaluating, diagnosing and treating patients that visit the clinic in addition to responding to injury calls the clinic may receive inside or outside of the facility.

Morogiello had two goals as she progressed through the master’s program: 1.To work in a field she loved and 2. To publish her thesis research. When she decided to advance her education, she knew she wanted to attend a university where she would have the opportunity to learn about interpreting and producing research. In 2015, the New Jersey native headed south to Georgia to obtain her Master of Kinesiology with a concentration in Athletic Training at Georgia Southern. While working toward her graduate degree, Morogiello served as a Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer for CRI.

“When I started my journey, I did not know much about working as an athletic trainer for recreational sports, but quickly fell in love with it. I felt welcomed into the CRI family and really enjoyed all of the content and skills I learned in my athletic training courses,” stated Morogiello. “The graduate Athletic Training program taught me more than I ever imagined learning about interpreting and producing research. I knew that learning how to digest and reproduce research would be an essential skill set to better my clinical practice and to share my knowledge with the scientific community.”

One of the biggest challenges regarding the athletic training field is the lack of knowledge regarding the skills and expertise athletic trainers can offer, therefore Morogiello has written extensively on this through the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA). “I have worked hard to educate and advocate for athletic trainers and campus recreation at the local and national level. I am part of the Risk Management Committee for Campus Recreation and Intramurals and I am becoming more involved with NIRSA and the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA). My mission is to have athletic trainers be the standard in campus recreation, rather than the exception.”

Since graduating Morogiello has published several articles to include the following: 

• “The Road Less Traveled: ATs in Campus Recreation” published in the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) News April 2020
• “Advancing Recreation: Athletic Trainers and Concussions” published by NIRSA: Leaders in Collegiate Recreation June 2019
• “Advancing Recreation: Athletic Trainers and Concussions” republished by Athletic Business July 2019
• “The Effect of Acute Pain on Executive Function” by Jenna Morogiello, Nicholas Murray, Tamerah Hunt, Brandonn Harris, Brian Szekely, and Georgia Shaver published in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Research August 2018 

“I truly look forward to going into work each day and providing my patients with relief from their pain and disablement. There is nothing more satisfying than a look on a patient’s face when he or she is able to be pain free and fully functional in a time frame they never thought was possible. This excitement is tenfold when my athletic training students provide the treatment they have learned through our rotation.”