132. Takahiro Uchida On Moving To The US, Athletic Training Opportunities, And Working In The NBA

26 Jul 132. Takahiro Uchida On Moving To The US, Athletic Training Opportunities, And Working In The NBA

Welcome Takahiro (Taka) Uchida to the podcast this week! Taka is an assistant athletic trainer with the Atlanta Hawks. He shares his journey of moving from Japan to the United States, working to become a Certified Athletic Trainer, and making the most of the opportunities in front of him. From the time he moved from Japan, he had dreams and aspirations of working in the NBA one day. He is now living his dream working the past 3 seasons with the Atlanta Hawks.

Taka talks about playing basketball while growing up in Japan and getting introduced to strength & conditioning in high school. This planted the seed and began his interest in the performance aspects of training for athletics. Following high school, he decided to move to the US in hopes of becoming an athletic trainer and fulfilling his dream of working in the NBA one day.

This episode is inspiring with many great gems of how to work towards your dreams. Taka emphasizes how he always took opportunities with the mindset of learning as much as he could at each step along his journey. His athletic training career began in Missouri as a student who did not know any English to being an assistant athletic trainer for the Atlanta Hawks. He is truly grateful for all his stops along the way, internships with the St. Louis Rams and Stanford, being a graduate assistant at Hawaii, before living his dream of working in the NBA. Listen to his spectacular journey and enjoy the episode!