SLU AT Student Gets Immersive Professional Baseball Experience with the Gateway Grizzlies

SLU AT Summer Field Experience Spotlight - Gateway Grizzlies

By: Adam Beck (SLU MAT Class of 2018)

I am spending my summer getting a great experience with the Gateway Grizzlies and their athletic trainer Geof Manzo, MS, ATC. The Gateway Grizzlies are an independent baseball team in the frontier league, and play at GCS Stadium in Sauget, IL just on the other side of the river from St. Louis. Geof has been with the Grizzlies for 15 years now and has done an outstanding job as an athletic trainer and a preceptor. He has established a great relationship with the coaching staff and players that are veterans on the team allowing them to trust him. I spend most of my time with Geof at the clubhouse in the training room, out on the field, and in the dugout.

During a normal home game that starts at 7, I arrive to the clubhouse at about 1 O’clock. Once I arrive, I start by setting up the visitor’s athletic training room stocking it with ice and towels. Then once the players start coming in they come see us to get whatever treatment they need for the day. Something I noticed was that the players have more say in their treatment. Some pitchers prefer different types of treatments before or after they throw. Then at 3 we head out to the field and stretch out the pitchers.

Once finished with the pitchers, we start stretching the fielders. Then they take batting practice. By the time batting practice is over there is still a couple hours till first pitch. We spend this time doing more treatment, rehab, and stretching out certain individual players. This schedule gives me a lot of experience everyday with new rehab plans and different types of treatments.

I have been around baseball in previous settings, but the Gateway Grizzlies are giving me a new look into a different level of baseball and how the role of the athletic trainer fits. Geof does a great job of showing me new techniques and explaining how they work, why to use them, and when to use them. He allows me to get very hands on, whether it is with some sort of treatment such as cupping or with constructing a rehab plan to help athletes get back to full health.

The Gateway Grizzlies and Geof have given me a great hands on learning experience. I am excited to see how the season will progress and what new experiences I will encounter.

Students in the Saint Louis University Athletic Training Program have an immersive field experience in the summer between their two professional years in the program.  This blog post details a student's reflection on their experience.

SLU AT Student “Gets Grizzlie” Spending a Summer with Pro Baseball Team

Summer Internship Blog Post - Gateway Grizzlies

By: Josh Harris (MAT Class of 2015)

A part of the West Division of the Frontier League (Independent League; non-MLB affiliate), the Gateway Grizzlies Professional Baseball team resides right across the Mississippi River in Sauget, Illinois. GCS Ballpark is where the Grizzlies play their home games and it was also was the site of my athletic training internship for the summer. Outside of GCS Ballpark, I had the opportunity to gain more athletic training experience by traveling with the team to T.R. Hughes Stadium in O’ Fallon, Missouri. These trips to O’ Fallon would occur when the Grizzlies were scheduled to play their cross-town rival, the River City Rascals. I share the internship experience with a fellow ATS from the University of Arkansas, Andy Scheumann, and the head athletic trainer of the Grizzlies, Geof Manzo, MS, ATC. Geof was really great to work with and he undoubtedly helped Andy and I build upon our athletic training skills.

Andy Schuemann, Izzy the Grizzly, Geof Manzo ATC and Josh Harris

The vast majority of my summer internship was spent at GCS Ballpark; in the athletic training room, treatment and rehabilitation room, on the field, and in the dugout. A typical day interning with the Grizzlies would begin around 1pm and end about an hour or so after the game was over. As soon as we arrived at GCS, Andy and I had to fold towels, that would later be used by the players on both teams, and also prepare the visiting team’s athletic training room. After these prep tasks were completed, Geof, Andy, and I would wait for our players to show up and then begin treatment and rehab with those who needed it. Some common treatments we performed on the players throughout the day included: therapeutic ultrasound, electrical stimulation, thermotherapy via heat packs, cryotherapy via ice bags, massage, taping, therapeutic exercise, and stretching. The treatment session lasted until 3pm, which is when we would go outside and begin the warm-up session for pitchers. About 30 minutes after that, we would begin the warm-up session for position players. After the warm-ups were over for both sets of players, batting practice would commence and then end around 4:45pm.

From the end of batting practice up until about 6:30pm, we would again perform treatment on any player that requested it or needed it. It was then time for the game, where all of us would be sitting in the dugout with the team. If any injury presented itself during the game, Geof would walk out on the field and evaluate the athlete. After his evaluation, he would come back into the dugout and discuss his findings with Andy and I. If there was no injury presented during the game, we would mostly spend our time making sure our players (and umpires) were properly hydrated. At the conclusion of the game, Andy, Geof, and I would all return to the athletic training room and wait for players to come to us for any treatment or evaluation before they went home for the night. The last task Andy and I had before the day was considered over was cleaning up the opposing team’s athletic training room.

Going into this summer internship, I really didn’t know what to expect. It was a totally new environment for me, as I had never worked with a baseball team this in-depth throughout my whole first year of athletic training practice. The experience was also an opportunity to practice with high-level athletes; much higher of a level than I had worked with in previous athletic training experiences at Parkway South High School and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. Overall, I feel that I have gained a lot of athletic training knowledge by engaging in this internship. I am very blessed to have had the opportunity to work with a great athletic trainer, staff, and team. This experience with the Grizzlies taught me a lot and I am looking forward to the next steps and challenges in becoming an athletic trainer.

Students in the Saint Louis University Athletic Training Program have a required internship in the summer between their two professional years in the program. This blog post details a student's reflection on their internship experience.

SLU AT Students Get a Great Baseball Experience with the Grizzlies

Gateway Grizzlies Summer Internship
By: Angelo Bongiorno and John Runde (MAT Class of 2014)

The Gateway Grizzlies are a professional baseball team located in Sauget, Illinois, a suburb of Saint Louis.  The Grizzlies are a member of the West Division of the Frontier League. The head athletic trainer for the Grizzlies is Geof Manzo, MS ATC. Geof has worked with the team for several years and is a veteran preceptor for multiple athletic training programs. He was great to work with and helped us to expand our knowledge in the field of Athletic Training.  We would arrive around 1pm on game days and stay until about an hour after the game had ended.  Geof also gave us the opportunity to travel with the team to away games a few times during the season when playing the River City Rascals, a team based out of O’Fallon, Missouri.  This was a great experience and allowed for even more time to practice our skills and work with the Athletes in a different setting. 

SLU AT student John Runde, Geof Manzo MS, ATC and SLU AT student Angelo Bongiorno.

While working with the Grizzles most of our time was spent in the athletic training room, on the field, and in the dugout.  The athletic training room was fairly small and compact containing only 3 tables to work with the athletes, the home and away locker rooms, a workout facility for in-house rehabilitation, as well as two offices for the coaches.  Although small, everything was very organized and easy to use. The Gateway Grizzlies provided a great facility to learn and practice multiple therapeutic modalities.  We were able to practice modalities such as electrical stimulation, Combo, hot packs, ice, massage and stretching.

A typical day with the Grizzlies began as soon as we arrived around 1pm.  The first thing we were assigned to do was to fold towels and prepare the opposing teams athletic training room before they arrived.  We would then begin treatments and rehab with players who needed it until around 3:30. At this time we would help with stretching and warm-ups for the pitchers, followed by the position players around 4.  It was then time to head to batting practice until about 5:15 where we then would head back to the athletic training room for last minute treatments until 6:30. We then would head to the game, sitting in the dugout with the team.  After the game we would return to the athletic training room waiting for anyone to come in for treatment and treat anyone who needed it.  After the opposing team had left, we would then clean their athletic training room.  This was our final task for the night before we were dismissed. 

Overall, we were able to learn and gain much experience during our summer internship.  We are thankful to have had the experience to work with such great staff and team and for everything we have learned from them.   

Students in the Saint Louis University Athletic Training Program have a required internship in the summer between their two professional years in the program.  This blog post details a student's reflection on their internship experience.

SLU AT Student Interns with Professional Baseball Team

Experiencing Life on the Frontier (League)

By: Derrick Neuner (SLU MAT Class of 2013)

My internship this summer is with the Gateway Grizzlies. The Grizzlies are an independent, professional baseball team that competes in the Frontier League against other teams primarily from the Midwest. The team is located at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, IL, just a few minutes across the river from St. Louis. They’ve been an organization since 2000 and won the Frontier League Championship in 2003.

I work with Geof Manzo, MS, ATC, as well as two other interns, Jordan Blankenship from Eastern Illinois University, and Taylor Chapman, from the University of Indiana. As a team, we provide medical treatment for the 25-men roster each and every day of the regular season, which started in mid-May and ends Sept. 1. That includes pre-game treatment, supervising team stretching, pitching preparation, supervising bullpen rotations, game management, post-game treatment, and preparing Geof to travel with the team. Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, we do not travel with the team.

From left: Derrick Neuner, Geof Manzo ATC, Izzy the Grizzly, Taylor Chapman, and Jordan Blankenship

So far, the internship has been unique in that it’s the first clinical experience I have working with other students. That has provided a tremendous learning opportunity - both for learning new styles and ways of treatment and tampering my ego! Though we may all approach a situation differently, that doesn’t necessarily make it wrong.

The most challenging part of working with the Grizzlies is the independent nature of the athletes. They will seek us out for treatment, not the other way around. That’s been a tough adaptation for me, but Geof has been incredibly encouraging and supportive. It’s also difficult with a limited budget. While we have electrical stimulation and ultrasound available, our athletic training room is essentially a closet, and there isn’t a lot of time to implement extensive rehabilitation plans. The Frontier League is also unique in that players can be traded or released with no notice - here today, gone tomorrow is truly a way of life. That can make establishing treatment goals challenging, but it’s a great challenge to develop innovative ways to provide care.

 

Working with the Grizzlies has really given me an insight as to how higher levels of athletic training operate. I’m extremely blessed and fortunate to be working alongside a great athletic trainer, Geof, as well as players and coaches who are eager to help me achieve my own goals of growing and learning as an athletic trainer.

Students in the Saint Louis University Athletic Training Education Program have a required internship in the summer between their two professional years in the program.  This blog post details a student's reflection on their internship experience.