Alex Best ’18

If you love sports, you might love sports. “Ride or die” for your favorite teams, you might know statistics for every player. You might also know the coach’s career history and strategy, but one area you might not know is the medical staff. From collegiate to major league, athletic trainers on sports medical teams keep athletes in peak form. Their knowledge of the body and the unique stresses that come with top-tier performance can lower the risk of career-ending, life-altering injuries.

That’s the role Alex Best ’18 wants. A second-year graduate student in the Department of Kinesiology’s Athletic Training Program, Alex dreams of joining the medical staff of a professional sport organization.

“I’ve always loved the medical field, and I found a passion for sports,” Alex explains. “Athletic training is a great avenue to encompass both.”

Alex first came to UNCG in 2014, but he hadn’t expected to stay. UNCG felt a little too close to home for the High Point native, but once he was on campus, Alex didn’t want to leave.

“In the middle of my first semester, I fell in love with everything that the University stood for: the faculty, the staff, and all the opportunities it presented me. So I decided to stay and pursue my master’s degree.”

With an innovative combination of evidence-based instruction, individualized clinical rotations, and clinical integrated rehabilitation capstone projects, the Master’s of Science in Athletic Training Program prepares graduate students to provide quality health care for athletes and other physically active individuals. Graduate studies, however, require significant commitments of time and money. For Alex, support came from the Lula McIver Graduate Scholarship. Named after Charles Duncan McIver’s wife – who also advocated for higher education for women and was instrumental in the establishment and operation of The State Normal and Industrial School, now UNCG – the scholarship allows graduate students in any program to pursue their passions and prepare for rewarding careers.

“I am incredibly grateful for these donors– the person who originally enabled this scholarship with an anonymous gift in 2009 and all the donors who have contributed since then,” Alex says. “It’s through scholarships like this that opportunities for students are created. The Lula McIver Graduate Scholarship let me take advantage of critical professional development and academic opportunities I might otherwise not have had.”

After graduation, Alex hopes to support high-performing athletes on a professional baseball team or the PGA tour. Wherever he ends up, Alex will undoubtedly provide the first-class care that keeps our favorite players in action for seasons to come.

Story by Michelle Danner-Groves, Donor Relations