Kennedy Gray’s (MSAPK’23) experience in athletic training spans the gamut. From assisting the Nigerian Basketball Federation in preparation for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics to working behind the scenes of Broadway productions, Gray has witnessed first-hand the incredible capabilities of the human body.

After earning her bachelor’s degree from Valdosta State University in 2018, Gray began her career in athletic training, working in an outpatient clinic with patients before and after surgery. In May 2021, she learned of an opportunity with the Nigerian Basketball Federation as they trained for the Olympics. However, as Gray progressed in her career, she noticed that her competition for job opportunities held graduate degrees – an observation that motivated her to pursue graduate school. Seeking a program that would challenge and support her while allowing her to continue working, she discovered the College of Health & Human Performance’s Department of Applied Physiology & Kinesiology. The program checked every box: A comprehensive curriculum incorporating strength and conditioning, a focus on sport performance and the flexibility of remote learning. Gray applied and was accepted. Soon after she accepted, she joined NEURO TOUR, a company that provides performing arts physical therapists and athletic trainers [or clinicians] for Broadway tours and productions worldwide.    

“I started my online program in January 2022 while working with a production of ‘Cats’ in Taiwan,” Gray said.

As she balanced coursework with her career, Gray supported several productions, including ‘Hamilton,’ ‘Prom’ and ‘Hip Hop Nutcracker.’ In her role, Gray helped actors recovering from injuries, attended exercises before showtime, practiced lifts and fight scenes, and treated standard muscle strains, tapings and blisters. In addition to supporting physical fitness, Gray also helped actors ease out of character.

“Many of these actors portray characters so far from who they are,” Gray said. “Part of what we would work on included deep breathing that helps actors come out of character after the show.”    

Gray credit UF’s online program structure for allowing her to thrive academically and professionally.

“The online format didn’t make me feel disconnected in any way,” Gray said. “Even though my classmates and I were all in random parts of the world, we stayed connected, talking about different trends, training programs and biomechanics, and we kept up to date with what was currently happening in those fields.”

During her graduate program, Gray also discovered her next career pivot: Sport psychology.

“Even after an athlete recovers from an injury, there’s a mental block to overcome what caused the injury in the first place,” Gray said.

Since graduating with her master’s degree in 2023, Gray continues to serve as a certified athletic trainer – now with Emory Sports Medicine working with high school athletes across multiple sports in southwest Atlanta. She practices breathing techniques, educates students on injury preventions and watches the biomechanics of how athletes move. Looking ahead, Gray hopes to continue working in sports, especially with young athletes, and has a long-term goal of studying clinical mental health to round out her knowledge in sport psychology. 

“The best part of the [graduate] program was learning about all the fields you could enter,” Gray said. “All of us came in with one thing in mind and [the program] helped us blossom to do something else.”

[Profile added in 2025]

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