UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - Saginaw Valley State University Director of Athletics John Decker is excited to announce the hiring of Bradley Smith as the new Assistant Athletic Director/Director of Sports Medicine/Head Athletic Trainer, effective early Jan. 2021.
Smith joined SVSU from Alma College and has been working with the Cardinal teams since arriving on campus in January.
"I would like to thank John Decker, Angela Pohl, and the entire search committee for providing me with this opportunity," Smith said. "Everyone has been so welcoming, which is one of the many reasons I'm excited to be part of the SVSU family. I look forward to helping provide tremendous care to our Cardinal student-athletes in order to keep them healthy and on the field."
He is responsible for the direct oversight of medical services provided for all 18 SVSU programs. Smith will work directly with the Cardinal football team as the Head Football Athletic Trainer and oversees the entire athletic training staff at the university. He is the NCAA Athletic Health Care Administrator for SVSU.
Prior to joining SVSU, Smith served as the Head Athletic Trainer at Alma starting in July 2018 and was an assistant athletic trainer for the Scots from August 2017 until taking over the Head Athletic Trainer role. From 2014 to 2017, Smith served as an Assistant Athletic Trainer at Berea College in Berea, Ky.
"In this time of the pandemic, SVSU needed a Head Athletic Trainer who could immediately address the countless issues facing college athletics programs, and Brad Smith is uniquely qualified for this job," Decker said. "He served previously as a head athletic trainer and was also involved with covid contact tracing, which is a real asset in these times. On a broader level, Brad has a great understanding of the role of the athletic trainer in our department and he already is working on new initiatives that will improve our delivery of health care to our student-athletes."
Smith graduated from Adrian College in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in exercise science and a Master of Science in athletic training in 2014.
