AMSTERDAM \u2014 March is both Women\u2019s History Month and National Athletic Training Month. The Amsterdam Mohawks will have to budget for two cakes this month, as general manager Megan Myers and athletic trainer Carla Pasquarelli play a big part in making the Mohawks the gold standard of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League.<\/p>\n
Both are driven to deliver results, foremost, but they\u2019re also local and still here, which means they\u2019re invested.<\/p>\n
\u2018CARLA IS FROM AMSTERDAM. SHE\u2019S NEVER LEAVING AMSTERDAM\u2019<\/p>\n
Pasquarelli, an Amsterdam High School graduate, is also the full-time athletic trainer for the Amsterdam school district. She started as a trainer at St. Mary\u2019s Hospital in 2009, and then worked per diem with the school in 2010. She\u2019s been full-time there for about five years.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy ultimate goal was always to come back and give the kids of Amsterdam High School, ultimately, what we never had,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She began working with the Mohawks in 2011, when they joined the PGCBL.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I was only here for home games, so it was a weird feeling,\u201d Pasquarelli said. \u201cThey would go on the road and there was a little disconnect. Something would happen and I wouldn\u2019t know what was going on. And we didn\u2019t really have the treatment hours we have now.\u201d<\/p>\n
So she pitched an idea to president Brian Spagnola in 2013, as she remembers it: Give the players what they\u2019re used to at their colleges \u2014 and many of them came from Division I institutions. That meant traveling to road games, treatment hours and the like.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey would get hurt, they would go home,\u201d she explained. \u201cNow when they get hurt, they don\u2019t necessarily go home. They rehab with us, we take care of them. They stay, and I think that\u2019s been a huge reason why we\u2019ve been so successful. We\u2019ve been able to keep those kids and the consistency of the team. Instead of, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s pull this guy in, [because] we lost that guy.\u2019 It\u2019s the same core, pretty much, from May 30 to August whenever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saying the Mohawks have been successful is akin to saying Billy Joel is an OK singer. They\u2019ve won the PGCBL eight times in 14 years, finished second in 2018 and 2021, and didn\u2019t play in the pandemic-cancelled 2020 season.<\/p>\n
Pasquarelli remembers the first athlete with whom her pitch to Spagnola paid off. Dylan Smith, from Auburn University, got injured the second day of practice, but didn\u2019t tell coach Keith Griffin or Pasquarelli at first. Then in the first game of the year, he pulled his unbeknownst-injured hamstring rounding first base.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said to him, \u2018We can do this one of two ways. You just got here. You can go home or you can give me two weeks. We\u2019ll get you out there right and get you playing.\u2019 \u2026 And he came in every day religiously for rehab, treatment, did everything I asked. By the end of June, he was back playing, he was an all-star that year,\u201d Pasquarelli said.<\/p>\n
What everyone from Spagnola down through the on-field staff says is there are two goals with the Mohawks. One, they\u2019ll make you better. Two, they won\u2019t get you hurt, and if you do get hurt, go to Pasquarelli.<\/p>\n
\u201cI give them the speech that communication is key,\u201d she said. \u201cI can\u2019t help you if you\u2019re not telling me and our coaches what\u2019s going on. Now, injuries happen, but as far as soreness and stuff, we offer those treatment hours. When they want to buy into it is key. That\u2019s the goal working with this generation, is getting them to buy in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naturally, Pasquarelli has encountered difficulties because she\u2019s a female trainer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always laugh at my first experience in a [Mohawks] game, it was with [now-Major Leaguer] Mark Leiter Jr.,\u201d Pasquarelli recalled. \u201cAnd we have a fantastic relationship now, but he\u2019s such a competitor. Coach pulled him after four innings, and he\u2019s mad. Coach sent him over to get ice. I went to put the ice on him, and he was so angry, so agitated, trying to wrap the ice on and it\u2019s not staying on, it\u2019s just falling off. I remember him looking at me and saying, \u2018Do you even know what you\u2019re doing? Are you even an actual athletic trainer?\u2019 And I was just so defeated.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe apologized after, and we worked together the rest of the season, and he showed me some of the stuff he was doing. Now here we are 15 years later, the boys know I\u2019m in charge. And coach and Brian will tell them what Carla says, goes. I think as I\u2019ve grown, I\u2019ve gained that confidence that this is how it is, this is our plan and this is how it\u2019s going to go. And they respect that.\u201d<\/p>\n
They respect Pasquarelli so much that many of them still message her to talk about their health.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if you\u2019re able to create and foster those relationships, long-term, that\u2019s something special,\u201d she said. \u201cI think it speaks to us as an organization that they feel so connected to us.<\/p>\n
If you ask [Griffin], he will tell you, \u2018Carla is from Amsterdam. She\u2019s never leaving Amsterdam.\u2019 I kind of feel that way. It\u2019s taken me this long to get ingrained into the school district, 18 years total, four, five years full-time now. And I love it. I love our administration and how supportive they are of the role of the athletic trainer, and the role I play within the school community.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019LL PUT IN MY TWO WEEKS NOTICE RIGHT NOW\u2019<\/p>\n
Myers is a Johnstown native and 2015 Johnstown graduate. She graduated from SUNY Brockport in 2019. The summer before her senior year in college, she interned with the Mohawks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI fell in love with the whole atmosphere of what this was, is now,\u201d Myers said. \u201cThat\u2019s when I decided I wanted to stay in the baseball realm.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her senior year of college, she interned at The Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The director there loved her work, but didn\u2019t have a job opening, but wrote a letter of recommendation to Old Dominion University to accept her for a master\u2019s in sports management. Once she sent in the application, she was accepted the next day.<\/p>\n
During her time there, she worked with the United States Collegiate Athletic Association as coordinator of marketing and events. After she graduated, she worked with the Albany FireWolves as account executive of ticket sales and operations in their initial 2021-22 season of the National Lacrosse League.<\/p>\n
\u201cDidn\u2019t love it,\u201d Myers said. \u201cI was working in the ticket office, and I\u2019m more of a hands-on person that needs to be out there interacting with everybody rather than making cold calls.<\/p>\n
Brian was texting me one day, and I had already decided I was going to leave and find something new, and he asked, \u2018What\u2019s your salary?\u2019 He and I had a great relationship. I texted him back and told him and said, \u2018Why are you asking?\u2019 He said, \u2018Because I\u2019m looking for an assistant [GM].\u2019 I said, \u2018I\u2019ll put in my two weeks notice right now.\u2019 And that\u2019s how I got here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Myers was promoted to general manager after the 2024 season. She said the reason the Mohawks are so successful at drawing fans is devout attention to all aspects.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe kind of weave it all together,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want it to be a place where if you\u2019re 2 years old all the way to 92, you can have a good time here. Coach can take care of the baseball side, whereas I can take care of the promotions and the sponsorships and the entertainment. Brian and I have the same mindset, and then we have Barry [Rouse] on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Myers said her mind is always racing with ways to improve the product.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never just want to settle for where we are. You\u2019ll see that coming to games,\u201d she said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s field or stadium-wise, seating-wise, signage-wise, we\u2019re taking it to the next level. We want to be the top summer entertainment offering in the 518 [area code], not just Amsterdam. We have probably a million spreadsheets. From game to game, we have recaps of everything. What can we do better? What went wrong? What needs to work in the next 24 hours for our next home game?\u201d<\/p>\n
Myers, who is also the Johnstown varsity girls\u2019 basketball head coach, also has had moments when she was met with bias because she\u2019s a woman.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere,\u201d Myers said, \u201cif a fan is getting out of hand and I have to tell them something, they\u2019re, like, \u2018Well, who are you?\u2019 Whereas if a male went up to them and said, \u2018You\u2019ve got to stop what you\u2019re doing.\u2019 They\u2019d say, \u2018OK.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s the barrier I face, especially when I got this role,\u201d she added. \u201cI can\u2019t let that happen anymore. It\u2019s just the mentality of me approaching them that I am the general manager. It\u2019s how I present myself to them to make that statement of this is who I am, and just because I\u2019m a female doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m any less than a male.\u201d<\/p>\n
She\u2019s also had opposing basketball coaches walk up to her male assistant coach and shake his hand first and say, \u2018How are you, coach?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cMy assistant coach is, like, \u2018Nope, I\u2019m just the assistant.\u2019 He\u2019s older than me, but it\u2019s still\u2026 As a coach, I do all my research. Who\u2019s the head coach, who\u2019s the assistant coach? I need to know everything. It\u2019s how people\u2019s minds work sometimes. It\u2019s just breaking that barrier.\u201d<\/p>\n
A WORD FROM SPAGNOLA<\/p>\n
When asked about Pasquarelli and Myers, besides offering praise, Spagnola\u2019s voice dropped into that sound like he was putting on a comfortable sweater. Since they are part of the organization, all is well.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t get there by yourself, you need people like them,\u201d Spagnola said. \u201cCarla is driven and very professional in what she does. \u2026 Megan is a Type A. She\u2019ll be on vacation and sending work emails. She\u2019s super-motivated, her heart is into it. They\u2019ve become a part of the culture in what we do. People like them make you look good.\u201d<\/p>\n
THEY LIKE WHERE THEY ARE<\/p>\n
Myers has seen women rise through the ranks of minor league and professional baseball; it would be impossible to not notice the once-glass ceiling has been broken. Likewise Pasquarelli, as highly regarded a trainer as there is, knows there are bigger opportunities out there.<\/p>\n
But are they better opportunities? Myers and Pasquarelli aren\u2019t so sure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI applaud all the females who are in those [higher] positions, but something about the Mohawks is why I came back,\u201d said Myers. \u201cWhat we do for the community, you can\u2019t find that when you\u2019re working for the New York Yankees. Yes, they do stuff with communities, but what we give back to not only Amsterdam and Johnstown and Gloversville, and seeing those little kids come back here and get so excited, it makes all the work I do throughout the summer worth it. That\u2019s something I can\u2019t give up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBaseball\u2019s always been a huge part of my life,\u201d Pasquarelli said, \u201cso when I got the opportunity to come work with the Mohawks, that was pretty much as close as you\u2019re going to get to the major leagues from my perspective. Just like Megan, I love what we do for our community. \u2026 We\u2019re our own little family.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AMSTERDAM \u2014 March is both Women\u2019s History Month and National Athletic Training Month. The Amsterdam Mohawks will have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[199,200,6444,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-47486","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-amsterdam","8":"tag-amsterdam","9":"tag-netherlands","10":"tag-regional","11":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116285539970222200","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}