A Northern Michigan University master's student in athletic training and a graduate of the program recently connected in the Dominican Republic, where both are applying their skills on behalf of different Major League Baseball franchises. Dillon Makela is completing a summer internship with the Chicago Cubs Academy before his final academic year, and 2005 alumnus Alex Mena is working full time with the Pittsburgh Pirates Academy next door.
“I've always wanted to work in baseball because I've been around the sport my whole life,” said Makela, a native of Milwaukee, Wis., home of the Brewers. “I asked Julie Rochester and Chris Kirk from the athletic training program to help me achieve that goal at the professional level, since NMU doesn't have a team and the high school season is short and hit or miss with the weather. I entered a program called PBATS—the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainer Society—and went through an involved application process, identifying my top three team choices.”
Makela picked the Brewers, the Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins, thinking he had family who live near each team's home base. He got a call from the Cubs' front office in January, asking if he wanted to interview for a summer internship. The organization later offered him the position, but added that it would take place in the Dominican Republic and asked about his Spanish proficiency, which he classified as not very good.
“Adapting to the language barrier and trying to relay and apply what I know to kids who don't speak English was the biggest challenge at first,” he said. “Some are taking English classes while they're playing and, two months into this, I've learned a lot of the basics in Spanish. I know medical terms and go through some evaluations in their language. I can carry on a basic conversation. Where we are in Boca Chica, people freely greet each other and it's about everyone living their day and working together. The culture is super chill and laid-back.”
The players Makela works with are all from Latin America, where they can be drafted two years earlier than in America. They have signed contracts with the Cubs and are getting some playing experience at the first minor league level in the hope of impressing the team's scouts and progressing through the ranks to Chicago and the “big show.”
“I've gotten pretty close to the players down here,” he said. “Just knowing that one of these guys could be a future pitcher or shortstop for the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, and that I might cross paths with them again as one of the team's athletic trainers, is really cool to think about.”
Makela said the Cubs have asked him to rejoin the organization in January, when he fulfills the athletic training program's required semester-long immersive internship. It's possible that will be stateside for spring training. From there, he will return to Northern for final exam week, then take his Board of Certification Exam and hopefully stay on with Chicago.
“I think Northern's done a great job preparing me for work in this field,” Makela added. “The faculty have been willing to do what they can to help me get where I want to be in Major League Baseball. And the clinical rotations provide great practical experience. I was with Northern's soccer, track and field, and cross-country teams. I also worked in both the Injury Evaluation and Care Clinic and the Concussion Clinic, and as a graduate assistant teaching biomechanics. Pitching and batting boil down to biomechanics, so all of the experiences I've had at Northern will help me in the job market and my ideal career.”
Makela said he was surprised to learn that Mena, a graduate of NMU's athletic training program, was working in the Dominican Republic with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The two crossed paths and conversed before a game, comparing notes on their Northern experiences.
After completing his degree, Mena worked five years as an industrial rehab specialist, helping injured employees return to work. He began to explore job opportunities outside of the United States, where he could apply both his athletic training and bilingual skills in the company of fellow Latinos. He is of Mexican descent and a native of Chicago. Mena has been working in the Dominican Republic for a decade, first briefly with the Milwaukee Brewers before he joined the Pirates.
“There are a lot of Latinos in baseball,” he said. “I just felt like this was exactly where I needed to be and decided to give it a shot. When I graduated from Northern, I was more interested in the clinical and rehab side of athletic training. I wasn't looking into sports at all initially. When this opportunity surfaced, I went for it to get my foot in the door of Major League Baseball. It paid less, but I ended up loving the culture here and stayed.”
Mena said he and other athletic trainers go in at 6:30 a.m. to start stretches and rehab for injured players during the playing season, which runs from June-August. But with fall and winter instructional leagues, he works year-round.
“It's more about education here,” he added. “These 16-year-olds are vying for their first professional contracts and know they have to throw, run and hit hard. But they don't necessarily know much about the performance side of things, like how to warm up different parts of the body properly, or the important role nutrition plays. I feel I'm contributing more to this culture here and have a greater sense of purpose than I might as an athletic trainer in the United States.”
Mena also praised the professors at Northern for their dedication to students, and the practical value of his clinical rotations with Wildcat hockey and the former Olympic Education Center. His education became more meaningful once he arrived in the Dominican Republic.
“Once I learned the language and routine of baseball—since I had no previous experience with the sport—everything came together with my previous training,” he said. “I love it here. … I was told that Dillon was going to be an intern with the Chicago Cubs down here, so I knew we would meet at some point since our teams are neighbors. I looked for him every time we played and saw him for the first time in mid-July.”
Both men agree it was a somewhat unlikely surprise for two Wildcats from the same academic program to cross paths while working for Major League Baseball franchises in the Dominican Republic.