General | March 31, 2023

With March being National Athletic Training Month, USC Aiken softball standout Jessica Stanley recently spent time with Assistant Athletic Director/Sports Medicine Brandon Aiken.

Brandon Aiken grew up in Wisconsin before moving to Aiken in 1997-98 and took over the head position at USC Aiken in 2000. 

How did you know you wanted to be an athletic trainer?

"I honestly wanted to go the Physical Therapy route for a while then I discovered more about athletic training after visiting the athletic trainer and realized they had the best of both worlds," stated Aiken. "They do the rehab portion but also get to be front row for sports, which was more motivating for me because I have patients who want to get back to their sport and get better."

What are your biggest challenges?

"Trying to meet the needs of the athletes in a timely and efficient manner. As of right now, having one athletic trainer taking care of all the sports in the rehab, that's the challenging thing; finding time to do that," stated Aiken. "My biggest challenge is probably to meet the needs of the athletes and meet the needs of my family."

What are some things you like the most?

"I get to meet all kinds of people, different personalities, from all different walks of life and all different backgrounds. I have made a lot of great friends over the years that still come back and see me because of the relationships I have formed here with rehab or being a part of their lives," stated Aiken. "Also, seeing an athlete go back to their sport is the coolest thing like an ACL injury and having that person go back and get into high level again, that's awesome, there's nothing better than that."

As a one-person office, fans can see Brandon at virtually every home sporting event. He spends countless hours behind the scenes to ensure each student-athlete's needs are met, even when it comes to sacrificing time he could be elsewhere. A fixture of the Athletic Department, USC Aiken is grateful for his continued work.