The Brave News

by Christian Angel, Managing Editor

St. John Bosco High School welcomes new athletic trainer and sports medicine teacher, Mr. Christian Knighten, as he works his hardest to give the best possible experience, treatment, and wisdom to the athletes and students on and off the field.

Q. Where were you born?

A. I was born at Torrance Memorial Hospital.

Q. Where did you grow up?

A. From the age of three, I was raised in Mariposa California. So while I was born in Los Angeles, I consider my hometown to be Mariposa, a small little mountain town at the base of Yosemite National Park.

Q. Where did you go to college and what did you study?

A. I studied at Long Beach State university, with my major being Athletic Training.

Q. What was your dream job growing up as a kid?

A. As a kid my dream jobs changed from wanting to be a movie director or screenwriter to working in physical therapy.

Q. What made you want to work as an athletic trainer?

A. When I tore my ACL in high school, I learned about sports medicine through my physical therapy / rehab process. I wanted to do something involving medicine in my life, but also wanted to stay connected with sports. Finding athletic training was the perfect balance between those two ideals. 

Q. What is your favorite part of being an athletic trainer?

A. My favorite part of athletic training is the people you meet. In the sports world, there are tons of unique individuals that can really leave an impact on your life.

Q. Where have you worked previously?

A. Bosco is my first athletic training job, I was hired right after graduating from Cal State Long Beach. But I did internships at Upland High School, Bosco, and Long Beach State during my time as a student. 

Q. How long have you worked as a Certified Athletic Trainer?

A. I have been a Certified Athletic Trainer for about four months now since June.

Q. What made you choose to come back to St. John Bosco and what excites you the most about it?

A. I had interned at Bosco the previous year, and really enjoyed my time there as a student and the environment that exists at Bosco. While it can be hectic with the little time and small space we have to work with the athletes during lunch, those times are also fun and exciting.

Q. How has your time at St. John Bosco been so far?

A. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Bosco so far – everyone has been super helpful with helping me get accommodated with teaching and putting myself out into the professional world.

Q. What is a typical day like for you as an Athletic Trainer at Bosco?

A. I wake up around six in the morning, make breakfast, get ready for the day and usually leave my apartment to get to school around 7:20-7:30 am most days. Then depending if I have class or not, I either get caught up on grading or getting my next lesson plan ready for my classes. Then at lunch, we give treatment for athletes or either help setup for games or practice. Usually the day ends with football practice in which we leave around 6-6:30 pm and on game days we leave around 11pm-12am.

Q. What are your hobbies?

A. I mostly play video games in my free time.

Q. What is your favorite food?

A. Steak and mashed potatoes.

Q. What is your favorite fast food and what is your typical order?

A. In-N-Out 4×4 with Animal Fries and strawberry milkshake

Q. What is your favorite movie?

A. My favorite movie is the Shawshank Redemption.

Q. What is your favorite sport and what team is your favorite?

A. My favorite sport is Basketball, and my favorite team is the Warriors.

Q. Do you have a favorite athlete?

A. Steph Curry, he is just so inspirational!

Q. Did you play any sports in high school, and if so, what did you play?

A. I played basketball all throughout high school, hence my torn ACL sophomore year.

Q. What type of music do you enjoy?

A. I bounce around a lot between the music I listen to, but it’s usually different forms of Rock. Whether it is Classic Rock, Metal, Grunge, Punk Rock, Alternative, Emo, etc. But I do also dabble in some Country as it does remind me of my hometown a bit.

Q. Morning or Night person and why?

A. Morning person, I always wake up around 6-7 am everyday even on the weekends. And I usually go to bed around 11 pm no matter what. I am more productive in the morning than at night. 

Q. What is one place you would like to travel around the world?

A. If I could travel anywhere in the world, I would say Japan.