(born December 7, 1970 in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan) is the head athletic trainer for the

Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...

football team. In 2002, Iso became the first full-time female athletic trainer in the NFL. On June 1, 2011 Ariko announced she was leaving the Steelers and returning to Oregon State University to become the head football athletic trainer for the Beavers effective June 10, 2011. On June 6, 2018, Ariko became the Head Athletic Trainer for Towson University’s football team. Iso became interested in athletic training after tearing her ACL while playing basketball and after hearing

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering c ...

exercise physiologist Chris Zauner while in high school in Tokyo. Iso then attended Oregon State, earning her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in 1993. She then attended

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

and earned her

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in 1995. She began athletic training while at San Jose State and worked at the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

. She was hired by

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decad ...

in 1996. At Portland State she worked with women's basketball, wrestling, and track and field before becoming the head football athletic trainer. In 2000 and 2001 she worked as an intern at the Steelers' training camp. She was hired by the Steelers in 2002 to fill an open position, becoming the NFL's first full-time female athletic trainer. When hired, Iso became just the third female in male professional sports, with two in the NBA. She worked at the 2005 Pro Bowl with Steelers coach

Bill Cowher William Laird Cowher (born May 8, 1957) is an American sports analyst, former football player and coach. Following a six-year playing career as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL), he served as a head coach in the NFL for 15 se ...

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

. As an assistant athletic trainer, Iso is responsible for reviewing applications for the team's summer program that she previously participated in. Of all the applications, Iso said she receives 100–200 from women.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iso, Ariko 1970 births Living people Oregon State University alumni People from Tokyo Japanese emigrants to the United States