Movement science trio joins Cubs' training staff

Several students and a faculty member are watching Major League Baseball games closely, as they helped athletes from two teams prepare for the season during spring training.

Brian Hatzel, associate professor of movement science, and two students majoring in movement science worked with the Chicago Cubs at their spring training facility in Phoenix, Arizona.

Hatzel said part of his winter semester sabbatical included working for the Cubs and providing daily coverage and patient care for major and minor league players. He was joined in Phoenix by students Susan Lawless and Carter Pallett; both secured internships with the Cubs.

Another student, Danny Leja, earned an athletic training internship with the Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training.

Pallett said their daily routine in Phoenix began at 5:15 a.m. He and Lawless stocked the athletic training room, and worked with players before and after games.

“Being able to have Brian as a teacher and work with him in the field was one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced,” Pallett said.

Pallett graduated in April and will attend Middle Tennessee State University to pursue a master’s degree in exercise physiology.

Lawless also graduated from Grand Valley and is going to Lamar University in Texas to work as a graduate assistant trainer with the baseball team.

Leja will work as athletic trainer with the baseball team at University of North Carolina-Pembroke, where he'll attend graduate school.