Carson Hickok was born in Des Moines, Iowa and moved to Destin, Florida when he was three years old. A 2025 alum of University of South Carolina - Upstate, Carson played soccer for the Spartans for four years as a defender. In four seasons at USC Upstate, Hickok tallied 46 games played with 32 starts, totaling 2,642 minutes played with 2 assists. Hickok started 15 of the team's 17 games in 2022, a career high in appearances for the defender. He served as a team captain for the Spartans his senior year and was named honorable mention all-conference by the Big South following that season.
Hickok has previous experience coaching across two states: in South Carolina at two local youth clubs, Carolina Football Club and Carolina Elite Soccer Club, and in Florida at Pensacola FC.