Hiro Kariya is the facility director at Premier Sports Performance and Recovery.
Before coming to PSRaR, Kariya spent almost four years working with Kennesaw State University Department of Sports and Recreation as the Head Athletic Trainer. Kariya directed the medical service for 1200+ athletes with 40+ sport teams. To ensure the safety of athletes, Kariya implemented injury prevention programs and educational programs to increase the awareness of serious injuries like concussions. His effort at KSU to grow the Athletic Training program, Athletic Training staff tripled the number of staffs and Athletic Training room doubled the size to serve more athletes with highest care possible.
Kariya was the Head Athletic Trainer at Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, GA for two years from 2012 – 2014 before moving to Kennesaw.
From 2010-12, Kariya was a graduate assistant athletic trainer for the Women’s Soccer and Track & Field programs at Kennesaw State University. Before joining the Owls’ staff, he also worked as an intern athletic trainer for the Track & Field program at University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Soccer is Kariya’s passion. Throughout his career, he volunteered to work as an intern Athletic Trainer for Charleston Battery, Atlanta Beat, and Georgia Revolution.
A native of Japan and spent majority of childhood in Columbus, GA, Kariya received his bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sport Science from University of Georgia in 2009. Kariya earned his Master’s in Sports Medicine from Georgia State University in 2012. His certifications include: Dry Needling, Kinesio Taping Practitioner, Corrective Exercise Specialist and Performance Enhancement Specialist from the National Association of Sports Medicine (NASM), Functional Movement Screen, Board Certification from the National Athletic Trainer Association (NATA). Kariya is a instructor of Kinesio Taping and First-aid/CPR/AED from the American Heart Association.
Kariya is married to Kylie and the couple have a 1-year old daughter Gemma.