Georgia Southern alumna finds home in campus recreation, publishes research

July 13, 2020

Patient care has always been an aspect of athletic training that has drawn Jenna Morogiello (’17) to the field. 

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 who visit the clinic. In addition, she responds to injury calls the clinic may receive inside or outside the facility.

“I truly look forward to going into work each day and providing my patients with relief from their pain and disablement,” she said. “There is nothing more satisfying than a look on a patient’s face when they are 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 are the ones providing the treatment that they have learned through our rotation.”

Morogiello was first introduced to CRI working as a graduate assistant athletic trainer while obtaining a Masters of Kinesiology with a concentration in athletic training at Georgia Southern. 

“When I started my journey I did not know much about working as an athletic trainer for recreational sports, but I quickly fell in love with it,” she said. “I felt welcomed into the CRI family and really enjoyed all of the content and skills I learned in my athletic training courses.” 

Her experiences at Georgia Southern have allowed Morogiello to accomplish two lifelong goals: working in a field she loves and publishing research. 

“The graduate athletic training program taught me more than I ever imagined learning about interpreting and producing research,” she said. “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.”

Morogiello’s research articles have been published in the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) News, National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA): Leaders in Collegiate Recreation, Athletic Business, and the Journal of Clinical and Translational Research on various aspects of athletic training in campus recreation.

As she has become more involved with CRI and recreational sports, her next goal is to ensure a space for athletic trainers in recreational sports at colleges and universities. 

“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 NATA. My mission is to have athletic trainers be the standard in campus recreation, rather than the exception.”