May 7, 2026 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu

Kendall Doyle’s favorite thing about athletic training is the opportunity to be there for athletes from start to finish. It’s a unique health care role because athletic trainers are present from injury prevention to inception through rehabilitation and finally return to play. 

A lifelong dancer, the Marietta, Georgia native fully understands the type of commitment and care it takes for performing arts athletes and their support team to keep everyone safe and successful. Doyle was attending USC’s summer dance conservatory the summer before her senior year of high school when she made the decision to be a Gamecock.

“One evening, I was standing outside the observatory near the Cocky statue with my RA, who was a sophomore dance major,” she recalls. “The sun was setting on a warm summer day, and the campus was glowing with that unmistakable South Carolina sunset, while fireflies flickered around us. In that moment, I felt a strong sense of belonging and knew USC was where I wanted to be.”

The opportunity to study exercise science with one of the nation’s top programs and minor in dance solidified Doyle’s decision, and even the COVID-19 pandemic failed to dampen her freshmen experience. She made some of her closest friends that year and felt fully supported by faculty, like B.S. in Exercise Science Undergraduate Director Ray Thompson, whose rigorous anatomy course challenged the way Doyle thinks about the human body and whose kindness and passion for physical activity inspired her as well.

Outside the classroom, Doyle joined a number of student and professional organizations – taking a leadership role with the Carolina Dance Science Club as Vice-President. She also amassed experience working with Gamecock Football, Prisma Health Orthopedics, and Headfirst Professional Sports Camp. She contributed to research in the Exercise Oncology Lab and stayed close to her roots by performing with the USC Dance Company.

After enrolling in the Arnold School’s M.S. in Athletic Training program in the fall of 2024, the USC Band & Dance Company was her first placement among many clinical rotations. Doyle also worked with local high schools and USC’s Swim and Dive Team as well as Campus Recreation and ROTC. She continued honing her leadership skills by serving as the Student Committee Chair for the Performing Arts Athletic Trainers’ Society and as the President for the South Carolina Athletic Training Student Association. This past semester, she has been living her dream by completing her final clinical rotation with the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries in New York City.

“My hands-on athletic training experiences helped me realize that there is a health care resource gap between sports and performing arts,” Doyle says. “My passion for working as an athletic trainer in this area is based on my desire to be the health care provider I wish I had when I was training as a pre-professional dancer.”

After graduating this month, she hopes to continue working as an athletic trainer in the performing arts in New York City. Doyle says that USC’s athletic training program set her up for success through its intensive curriculum and by offering diverse clinical opportunities to which she could tailor her interests. The faculty played a major role in this experience, with mentors like Jim Mensch, Amy Fraley, Zachary Winkelmann, and Dawn Emerson along with dance faculty Jen Deckert and André Megerdichian making a lasting impact on Doyle.

“I arrived at USC as a wide-eyed freshman, drawn to the exceptional exercise science program and the rigor of the dance company curriculum,” Doyle says. “However, what ultimately made me stay for six years and two degrees were the mentors who invested in me – individuals who not only shaped my academic journey but also helped me grow into the clinician I am becoming. Because of their guidance, I am leaving USC with a clear, focused vision for my future in public health.”

---