Congratulations, Courtney Jones, on your new position as Executive Associate Athletics Director for Sports Medicine and Performance

Well, stop the presses and cue the confetti—Courtney Jones has officially been promoted! After years of steering the University of Kentucky’s women’s basketball and rifle programs from the sidelines, she’s got a fresh title: Executive Associate Athletics Director for Sports Medicine and Performance. That’s right—moving from her role as Senior Athletic Trainer for UK Women’s Basketball and Rifle to a top‑tier administrative position in the Wildcats’ athletic department. Let’s dive deep into what this means, how she got here, and why it’s a pretty big deal—not just for UK but for college athletics as a whole.

Courtney Jones’s career is nothing short of a testament to commitment, hard work, and expertise in a field that’s only recently started getting the full recognition it deserves. Since earning her undergraduate degree in athletic training from Purdue University in 2001, she’s spent more than two decades climbing the ladder, learning the nuances of athlete care, and staying grounded in science-backed strategies to help athletes heal, grow, and thrive. As of this fall, she’ll be entering her 19th season with Kentucky Athletics—an impressive milestone by any standard.

Her journey with UK started humbly. Right after college, she came in as a graduate assistant athletic trainer, assigned to the men’s and women’s swimming teams. At the same time, she pursued her master’s in kinesiology and completed it in 2003. That early stretch was important—not just for the practical experience she gained taping ankles and monitoring recovery, but also for the academic knowledge she layered on top of her daily work. That dual perspective of hands-on trainer and sports science student would come to define her approach to athlete health in the years to come.

From there, she took a short detour to Barton College in North Carolina, where she not only served as an athletic trainer for volleyball and softball, but also taught athletic training courses. Teaching, in many ways, honed her ability to communicate clearly, manage schedules, and lead. It’s where she likely realized that being a mentor was as vital as being a caregiver.

Soon after, she joined Northwestern University, where she worked for five years, handling women’s basketball and cross-country. But in 2009, the blue and white of UK called her back, and she’s been home ever since. Since rejoining the Wildcats, she’s become a fixture within the women’s basketball program—a quiet but powerful presence behind the scenes who’s helped athletes return from injury stronger than before, prevented countless others from getting hurt in the first place, and built a foundation of trust among players and coaches alike.

But Jones hasn’t just stayed in her lane. Over the years, she’s taken on increasing responsibilities beyond women’s basketball and rifle. Her purview expanded into overseeing all of women’s sports medical needs at UK, supervising other athletic trainers, managing sport-specific medical programs, and aligning with performance staff to ensure athletes are receiving well-rounded, integrated care.

This promotion to Executive Associate Athletics Director is more than a title change—it’s a huge statement. It shows that UK is serious about health and performance being part of its core strategy, not just a support service. In the cutthroat world of collegiate athletics, where margins of victory can be razor thin, having someone like Courtney Jones in the executive suite ensures that athlete care isn’t just reactive—it’s proactive, strategic, and fully embedded in the culture of success.

In this new role, Jones will be overseeing a department that touches every single student-athlete. That means coordinating across sports, managing budgets, hiring and mentoring new staff, innovating new care protocols, and collaborating with coaches to make sure training regimens match medical best practices. Her impact won’t just be felt in the training room—it’ll be felt across the entire athletics department.

One of the more significant parts of this move is what it signals for the profession of athletic training. Traditionally, athletic trainers have worked long hours in the background, often underappreciated and under-recognized despite playing a critical role in keeping programs afloat. Seeing someone move from trainer to executive director doesn’t just offer hope—it opens doors. It shows that people who’ve spent years working directly with athletes, understanding their day-to-day needs, can—and should—move into higher leadership positions. They bring unmatched insight into what it really takes to keep athletes healthy and performing.

Jones’s new job won’t be all meetings and memos, either. Her deep roots in the programs she’s helped build give her a unique edge. She knows what the athletes need. She understands the coaches’ expectations. She’s seen the changing trends in athlete care—whether it’s the rise in data analytics for injury prevention, the importance of mental health support, or the need for sport-specific rehab programs. She’ll be able to take all that on-the-ground knowledge and turn it into top-down policy that supports athletes across the board.

Let’s not forget who she is outside the training room. A native of Crown Point, Indiana, Jones lives in Lexington with her husband Todd and their two children, Connor and Avery. She’s been part of the Kentucky community for nearly two decades now, and that local connection matters. She’s not an outsider parachuting in with big ideas—she’s one of their own, someone who has earned every ounce of trust and respect she has. That’s going to make her transition into leadership even smoother and more meaningful.

There’s also something powerful in seeing a woman take on such a significant leadership role in collegiate sports—particularly in sports medicine, where leadership ranks have historically skewed male. Jones’s promotion sets a precedent. It sends a message to young women in sports science, athletic training, and related fields that they too can aim higher, lead departments, and shape the future of athlete health and performance.

With Courtney Jones at the helm, Kentucky Athletics is likely entering a new phase of innovation and care. Her vision will likely emphasize collaboration between athletic trainers, strength coaches, nutritionists, mental health providers, and even external healthcare partners. She knows how vital it is to treat athletes as whole people, not just performance machines.

And let’s be honest—she’s already proven she can handle the pressure. Women’s basketball at Kentucky is no walk in the park. It comes with high expectations, demanding schedules, and athletes who are constantly pushing the edge of what’s possible. Courtney has stood in that fire season after season, balancing recovery timelines with competitive urgency, supporting athletes mentally and physically, and navigating the highs and lows that come with elite competition. Those are the moments that build true leadership.

So what’s next? A lot, honestly. She’ll be responsible for ensuring Kentucky’s sports medicine programs not only maintain their standard of excellence but evolve in step with modern trends. That could mean rolling out new recovery technologies, updating concussion protocols, refining mental health support, implementing advanced injury tracking systems, or leading partnerships with medical schools and hospitals. And perhaps just as importantly, she’ll be mentoring the next generation of athletic trainers, giving them the tools, confidence, and vision to dream bigger—just like she did.

It’s easy to overlook the people who aren’t in the spotlight. Trainers don’t score points. They’re not in the highlight reels. But ask any athlete who’s come back from an injury, or any coach who’s watched a player bounce back stronger than ever, and they’ll tell you—trainers make all the difference. With Courtney Jones in this new role, that difference is about to scale up. She’ll be touching every team, every athlete, and every coach. She’ll be helping UK not just play hard—but play smart, safe, and strong.

So here’s to Courtney Jones—congratulations on the new position. You’ve earned every step of this climb, and now you’ve got the platform to make even more of an impact. The Wildcats are in good hands. And for every young athletic trainer out there wondering what’s possible in this profession, your story just made the possibilities feel that much bigger.