Nick Sparacio joined the Georgia Southern Athletics Department prior to the 2015-16 season and serves as the Associate Head Athletic Trainer and Head Football Athletic Trainer for the Eagles.Â
Prior to the 2022 football season, Nick provided medical care for the Eagles men's basketball team for seven seasons. During this span the Eagles produced three 20+ win seasons, all reaching the Sun Belt Tournament semifinals round. From the sideline he was able to watch as the team won the 2018-19 Bahamas Showcase Tournament and in the 2016-17 season, achieved their first postseason berth since 1992 in the College Basketball Invitational. Over his tenure, Sparacio worked with 11 student athletes that went on to play professional basketball.
Aside from Georgia Southern, Nick has donned the Red, White, and Blue, as he was selected as the athletic trainer for the 2021 USA Basketball Junior National Team. The team went on to go undefeated in the FIBA Americas Cup and take home the gold medal.Â
Sparacio came to Statesboro from Nashville, Tennessee, where he spent the previous year at Vanderbilt, providing athletic training services for football and men's tennis. Prior to his stint at Vandy, Sparacio spent two years as a graduate assistant at the University of Wisconsin working with men's soccer, before graduating with a Master's of Science in Kinesiology in 2014. While in Madison, he was able to work with All-American and first-round draft pick, AJ Cochran, of the Houston Dynamo while also helping the Badgers earn their first NCAA tournament appearance in 15 years.
He received his undergraduate degree from Iowa State University in kinesiology with an emphasis in athletic training.
Sparacio is an active member of the National Athletic Trainers' Association, and is licensed in the state of Georgia. Nick has pursued leadership development and completed both Leadership Academy Certificates from the NATA and SEATA. He also holds a Corrective Exercise Specialist certification through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and is certified in myofascial decompression, dry needling, and blood flow restriction therapies.
