Kelly Kessler joined West Virginia University’s athletics training staff in the fall of 2020 and currently serves as the senior assistant trainer with the Mountaineer football program. She previously served as the athletics trainer for WVU’s wrestling and swimming and diving programs.
Kessler’s responsibilities include day-to-day care, rehabilitation and injury prevention.
She arrived at WVU after serving as an assistant athletics trainer at the Florida Institute of Technology, providing daily medical coverage for baseball, volleyball and men’s and women’s cross country. Before her departure, Kessler worked as the interim head athletics trainer for two months, serving as the sole athletics trainer on staff, responsible for all 17 sports. She also implemented the resocialization student-athlete plan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to her work at Florida Tech, Kessler also spent time on the athletics training staff at California State University, Fresno, where she worked as a certified athletic trainer intern for the football and women’s swimming and diving teams. There, she directly communicated student-athlete care with athletic training staff, strength and conditioning staff and team physicians.
Kessler received her master’s degree in physical education from the University of West Florida in 2017, while working as a graduate assistant certified athletic trainer with football, volleyball and men’s and women’s tennis. She was responsible for daily medical care and injury documentation and treatment. She also had the opportunity to serve as the host athletic trainer for the 2017 NCAA Division II Women’s Volleyball National Championship and attended the 2017 and 2018 Division II Men’s and Women’s Tennis National Championship as a visiting athletic trainer. In 2017, the men’s tennis team achieved a national championship title.
A Pensacola, Florida, native, Kessler also earned her bachelor’s degree in athletic training from West Florida in 2015, during which time she worked as an athletic training student with the baseball and tennis teams.
