Sho Arai joined the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi athletic training staff in the fall of 2014, overseeing sports medicine needs for the cross country and track and field programs. In the fall of 2015 he moved over to work with the Islanders Tennis programs.
Arai came to the Island University after spending two years with Texas State University in San Marcos, where he earned his master’s degree while also working with the baseball and track and field teams for the Bobcats. He worked with assessments, treatments and rehabilitation with those two programs while also serving as a preceptor for the athletic training students. He also taught athletic training courses at Texas State.
He also gained valuable experience in the summer of 2014 with the Global Basketball Summer League in Las Vegas. There, he served as the head athletic trainer for the professional level week-long event, making critical in-game decisions for elite basketball athletes.
Before returning to the United States in 2012, Arai worked in his home country of Japan as the assistant athletic trainer at Tokyo International University, working with the men’s soccer program. There, he was responsible for the health and wellness of over 200 athletes.
He also gained experience in athletic training while completing his undergraduate education in upstate New York. He worked as an athletic training student at SUNY-Cortland, helping with the football, women’s basketball, baseball and swimming and diving programs while completing his undergraduate degree at SUNY Cortland. He also worked in summer baseball with the Elmira Pioneers of the New York Collegiate Baseball League.
He is certified by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, Texas Athletic Training Board and is an approved CAATE Clinical Preceptor. Arai has also obtained further credentials by becoming a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, IASTM (Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization) techniques, and Corrective Exercise Specialist.
Arai is a native of Saitama, Japan. He resides in Corpus Christi with his wife, Jaycee.
