‘This Team is Special’

UK Athletic Trainers Cherishing Another Final Four Volleyball Run

By Ryan Clark
CHS Communications Director

When JT Carmer was trying to decide where to attend his post-graduate schooling for Athletic Training, the University of Kentucky and the College of Health Sciences stood out for a number of reasons.

“I came to UK because this University has some of the highest-level athletic programs in the country,” said Carmer, 26, who is currently working as an Athletic Training fellow/assistant Athletic Trainer with Kentucky’s No. 2 nationally ranked Volleyball squad.

“This is an opportunity not only to be a part of these teams but to learn from some of — if not the best — Athletic Trainers in the profession,” he continued. “This position is one of a kind.”

And, after working for just a few months, Carmer now finds himself in Kansas City, where the Wildcats are appearing in their second volleyball Final Four, looking for another national championship.

Kentucky faces three-seeded Wisconsin at 9 p.m. tonight, televised on ESPN.

“The feeling of making it to the Final Four is amazing — this team is special in every aspect and to be able to watch and help them be successful has been an experience that I will never forget,” said Carmer, a native of Newport Beach, California.

Carmer earned his undergraduate degree from Cal State Fullerton and his master’s from Baylor before moving to Lexington. He says he’s already learned so much that will apply to his future, which he hopes will involve athletic training for a major collegiate volleyball or basketball team.

“But I want to make sure I work somewhere with a similar atmosphere like UK,” he said. “Coming to UK in itself was to make sure I become more prepared to work with whatever teams and programs I’ll be at, but I wouldn’t have expected to have learned and experienced so much — not just with volleyball, but all the teams. It’s truly been special every step of the way.”

Of course, this trip to the Final Four is a bit different from the program’s first in 2020, which was right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Katy Poole, MS, ATC, LAT and the Senior Athletic Trainer for Volleyball, is also an alumna of the College of Health Sciences. She earned her M.S. in Athletic Training in 2013, and served in the same role when Kentucky won its first Volleyball national championship in Omaha in 2021 (for the 2020 season).

“The COVID experience was unique in that the entire tournament was played in one location, and so many precautions were still in place,” Poole said. “There definitely is a lot more fanfare, just because we aren’t trying to limit exposures/interaction. Overall, still an overwhelming sense of gratitude for getting to spend as much time as possible with this team and staff.”

Both say they will cherish this latest NCAA Tournament run.

“Every single day here at UK has been amazing,” Carmer said. “I have learned so much already and I have only been a quarter of the way through this two-year position. Whatever happens I know I’ll be prepared for it.”