Villanova Univeristy Athletics

Alexandria “Alex” Palanca is an assistant athletic trainer at Villanova, joining the staff in July 2023. Palanca currently provides athletic training services for the field hockey and swimming & diving teams.

Alex served as an athletic training intern with the New York Jets for the 2022 NFL season, where she assisted in providing treatment and care for professional football players. She then spent the 2023 season at Rutgers University as a graduate athletic training student, where she continued to assist in providing athletic coverage for the men’s lacrosse and women’s gymnastics teams.

Palanca has a passion for promoting the athletic training profession, as she served as Chair of the Athletic Trainers’ Society of New Jersey’s Student Leadership Committee from 2022-23. She continues to be involved as an active member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s Early Professionals’ Committee. 

A New Jersey native, Alex received her Master of Science in Athletic Training from Seton Hall University (2023) and her Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science and Sports Studies from Rutgers (2019).

Palanca is a licensed athletic trainer in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, in addition to credentials as an American Heart Association Basic Life Supporter.