Wednesday Bienusa MA, LAT, ATC, CES, VRC
Wednesday Bienusa is a certified athletic trainer with over a decade of experience in collegiate sports medicine and currently serves as Associate Head Football Athletic Trainer and Director of Football Medicine at East Texas A&M University. In this role, she oversees all medical decisions for the football program and provides broad athletic training leadership across 14 sports, ensuring coordinated, athlete-centered care at every level.
Her career spans multiple high-performance Division I environments, including roles as Assistant Athletic Trainer at Stanford University, where she supported the football program for five years, and earlier work at University of California, Santa Barbara supporting multiple women’s sports. She also served as a Certified Athletic Trainer at University of Alabama at Birmingham and completed her graduate assistantship at California State University, Fresno, building a strong foundation in injury prevention, rehabilitation, and return-to-play protocols.
Across her career, Wednesday has been known for her holistic approach to athlete care—blending physical rehabilitation with mental health awareness and long-term wellness support. A graduate of California State University, Sacramento, she brings both clinical expertise and a deeply personal commitment to athlete development, often serving as a trusted daily support system for the teams she works with.
• California State University, Fresno- M.A.
• California State University-Sacramento- B.S.
• Dean's List
• Lionheart Award
What do you attribute your success to?
I can definitely say that comes from my mom and my dad. My dad always kind of told me that whatever a boy could do, I could do. He didn't raise me like a boy, but if there were chores to do around the house that were typically boy chores or whatever, he expected me to get them done as well. It was not as a way to make me tougher, but just show that I have the same capability and inner strength that a male does. And then for my mom, she kind of gave me her temper. It was very much if you have something to say that is impactful and significant, say it. Otherwise, open your ears and listen. So I took that to heart. If I didn't have anything that was going to add to the development of myself, the development of my environment, I didn't say anything, but I listened to what other people were saying and hearing what their ideas and what their thoughts were. And if I heard something that was like, no, that could actually work, then I spoke up and was like, hey, that's actually a great idea. How do we build that? Even from being a kid, I was always called the quiet one in class, but when I did speak, it was always contributing to what was being discussed, and it was always highly intelligent.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I’ve ever received has come from my mentors Heather Farwig, Brian Cook, Sarah Lyons, and Emily Wilder, whose guidance and support have shaped my professional growth, strengthened my confidence, and taught me to trust my clinical judgment while staying committed to athlete-centered care.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Stand up for yourself. Coming up in the field, it was always kind of told to us that females can't really be ahead of football. It's not common, it doesn't happen very often, because it's very demanding, and there's always the, well, what about when you want to start a family, get married, do all those things? And it's like, you can have both. You can do both, for sure, 100%. I mean, I'm doing that. I'm married, I have a husband, me and him are getting ready to start that second step of starting a family. You can have your cake and eat it, too. It may not be as big of a piece of cake as what you might have in another sport or another field, but you can have your cake and eat it, too. So, I tell them, stand up for yourself, you have a voice. If you want to do something, there's no reason why you can't do it. Don't let anybody tell you no, and don't let anybody stand in your way. I'm kind of a pick down a door first before I knock mentality, so I teach a lot of my female students to do that.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges in athletic training is navigating a male-dominated environment while managing the intense demands and high-pressure nature of the role. At the same time, this creates meaningful opportunities to increase representation, inspire future generations of women in sports medicine, and elevate the visibility and value of athletic trainers in athlete health and performance.
For me personally, this work is deeply shaped by my own experience with a career-ending gymnastics injury, which ultimately redirected me into sports medicine and continues to drive my purpose. It’s also an opportunity to expand my impact beyond physical care by providing emotional support and mentorship to athletes, helping them through some of their most difficult moments while encouraging others to pursue careers in healthcare and athletic training.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I'm an avid reader. I probably either listen to or read up to 2 or 3 books per football season. We spend a lot of time on the road, bus, or plane flights, so you usually have about anywhere from 3 to 6 hours where you're just traveling, so I consider that downtime, so I read a lot. I do crafting every now and then. I have a whole tub of crafts that I play around with when I have the time and opportunity to. But otherwise, if I'm not doing that, I'm just kind of hanging out with my two cats at home.