"I shall be telling this with a sigh. Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in the wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost That is exactly what Dr. Brian Hatzel did in 1997 when he was looking for a graduate assistantship coming out of the University of Florida undergraduate athletic training program. Ball State was not an SEC football GA Position but it was chance to work baseball and be on his own. Starting out as an student athletic trainer at Oviedo HS in Oviedo, FL and through the mentorship of his HS athletic trainer, Kevin Mathews, Brian decided to pursue athletic training as a career. This landed him at the University of Florida in 1989 and working football as a freshman. His clinical experiences were great but he was looking for something more to make him a stronger clinician. The Baltimore Orioles gave him the opportunity to work in minor league baseball and in turn lead him to build on that at Ball State working baseball for two years as an graduate assistant. He next venture took him back to the University of Florida as a doctoral assistant and working women's soccer and then women's softball. It was a daunting task doing both but his work ethic and the sacrifice from his wife Gayle allowed him to complete his doctoral research. In 2002 he made the move to Michigan and Grand Valley State University and has not looked back since. His former students make up an athletic training tree that is second to none. Many are in leadership positions in athletic training. He is the 2015 Michigan Athletic Trainers Society Distinguished Athletic Trainer, The Great Lakes Athletic Trainers' Association Outstanding Educator in 2017, National Athletic Trainers' Association Athletic Training Service Award recipient in 2018 and The Cardinal Sports Medicine Society Ring of Honor inductee in 2014. Dr. Hatzel resides in Grand Haven, MI with his wife Gayle and their 3 children.

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