By: Nathan Kuhta

Holy Family University is home to an athletic department with over 250 student athletes who compete across 18 Division II-level sports in both the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) and the East Coast Conference (ECC). With numerous student-athletes and sports on a single campus, a strong athletic department is crucial to meeting the needs of athletes, enabling them to compete at their highest level. Holy Family has just that, with a training staff led by Head Athletic Trainer Sara Miraglia.  

A New Jersey native, Miragila received a Bachelor of Science with a focus in Athletic Training from West Chester University. She also completed a master’s in educational leadership from Immaculata University. Before her time at Holy Family, Miragila spent time as the assistant athletic trainer at her alma mater, Immaculata University, as well as time as the head athletic trainer at Bishop Shanahan High School. Her tenure at Holy Family University began in 2019, when she was hired as the head athletic trainer and includes a promotion to assistant athletic director for sports medicine in July 2023.

Miraglia has a staff of three other athletic trainers as well as two intern students who work together to keep Holy Family’s athletes healthy and ready to compete. When asked about her day-to-day life, Miraglia said, “The biggest part of my day-to-day life is that it changes every day.” Factors such as practice, home games, away games, and road trips all require the athletic training department to be flexible in its schedules. “Most days we don’t work traditional hours; sometimes we are here as late as 9:00 pm for a night game,” Miraglia added. 

Holy Family’s athletic department is also rapidly growing, specifically with the addition of a men’s lacrosse and baseball team three years ago. Just these two sports alone bring in close to another one hundred athletes; the department becomes responsible for and must then take care of them. “Our jobs have become more chaotic,” Miraglia said when asked how her job has changed because of the growth. Having four athletic trainers in the building is a luxury that many athletic programs do not have. “Being able to provide a safe and healthy environment for our student athletes is really important,” Miraglia emphasized.  

The Holy Family Athletic Department also interns a handful of students a semester to learn the “ins and outs” of what it’s like to be an athletic trainer. Current Holy Family student and intern with the Athletic Training staff, Garrison Pregulman, was asked about the opportunity to learn under this staff and said, “I hope to gain knowledge about what it takes to be a good athletic trainer as well as keep athletes motivated to come in and get better.” The importance of maintaining a good relationship between athletics and athletic trainers is massive because it opens up a level of trust that allows both sides to communicate effectively. “Sara has shown me you can have positive relationships with athletes and how important it is to have one so they come to get the care they need,” Pregulman added. 

With as demanding a job as being a head athletic trainer, Miraglia talks about the importance of keeping a work-life balance and having a social life outside of work. “When I first entered the profession, I was scared to take a day off.” She emphasised the importance of personal time and being away from work by saying, “If you need to take some time to reset to avoid fatigue, everyone will come to work a better version of themselves if you aren’t coming to work burned and stressed out every day.” Miraglia enjoys spending her free time in a variety of ways, ranging from going to the beach and baking, spending time with her nephews, and doing anything and everything that has to do with Philadelphia sports. 

Holy Family’s Athletic Department as a whole has been rapidly growing, not just in the number of athletes but also in its success on the field. While these initiatives are beneficial for the university, they also require significant growth in the athletic training department to keep up with demand. Holy Family has been able to keep up as they have hired more staff and upgraded the needed equipment to best fit the needs of a now bigger department. 

The fruits of Miraglia’s efforts, as well as the efforts of the staff, are reflected in the results of the athletic programs. Every season, the Holy Family teams take the field, court, or pitch to compete. All of these games are free for students, and many are live-streamed on various platforms. For more information on how to watch or follow your Tigers athletics, feel free to explore their home page linked below. For a deeper dive into the athletic training program, as well as the other athletic trainers, please visit their website, located at the bottom of this page.

Nathan Kuhta is a senior at Holy Family University who is currently majoring in English Education. He plans to teach English at the high school level and will graduate in the fall of 2026. 

Sources

https://athletics.holyfamily.edu/  https://athletics.holyfamily.edu/sports/2011/1/25/Sports%20Med.aspx