Chris Leary joined Southern Connecticut State University's as the Owls' Head Athletic Trainer in 2022-23. Leary came to Southern Connecticut after three years an assistant athletic trainer at Assumption (Mass.) University. With the Greyhounds, Leary worked directly with the football, women's basketball, softball and track & field programs, primarily with sprinters.
In addition to working with the three programs mentioned, Leary was also responsible for athletic training coverage for field hockey, volleyball, men's ice hockey and men's lacrosse. Leary was also the campus coordinate for Assumption's Drug Free Sport testing. He collaborated with other institutions to coordinate internships while also working extensively in ensuring the department was compliant with NCAA rules in terms of annual physicals, health insurance, ADHA documentation and other areas.
Leary also implemented the Catapult One heart rate monitoring system and established injury reporting processes and student-athlete appointment scheduling.
Before joining Assumption, Leary was a graduate assistant trainer at University of New Haven where he worked with the football, track & field, women's basketball and softball programs. Leary assisted with the day-to-day operation of the athletic training office and was a preceptor for student-athletic trainers while earning a master's degree in healthcare administration.
Leary's athletic training career began a student at SUNY-Cortland. In addition to Cortland's men's and women's basketball, men's lacrosse and baseball programs, Leary also worked with the Cornell University football team. Leary also completed a summer research assistant position at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Leary graduated from SUNY-Cortland with a bachelor's degree in athletic training in 2016. He is a licensed Athletic Trainer in Connecticut and Massachusetts and is also a certified member of the National Athletic Trainers' Association Board of Certification (ATC) since 2016. He holds a membership in the National Strength and Conditioning Association (CSCS) since 2020 and is certificated in Personal Blood Flow Restriction Rehabilitation Training (PBFR) since 2019 and is trained in M1 and M2 Graston Technique (GT).
