The world of Major League Baseball is no longer exclusively men’s and Rachel Balkovich proves it. It was this week when he wrote a history chapter in baseball, when it was confirmed that the Omaha (Nebraska) native would lead the Tampa Tarpons, She is a Class A affiliate of the New York Yankees, making her the first woman to run a team at any level within the professional baseball system in the United States.
On Wednesday, Balkovec was presented with the Tarpons to play in the Florida State League, a date that rewards all the efforts that began over ten years ago, When she played softball at Creighton University and later transferred to the University of New Mexico, where she was engaged in fishing.
In addition to his 2009 New Mexico degree in exercise science, his education includes a master’s degree in kinesiology from LSU., as well as another major in Human Motor Science, this with Frei University in the Netherlands.
His mission will be to cultivate young prospects who aspire to make it to one of the most important teams not only in baseball, but in global sports. She knows this is the “American Dream”, with a heavy responsibility and claims to have the personality needed to meet the mission.
“The players I’ve worked with, whether they like who I am or not or what I say, they respect me. Yes I think so.He said during his presentation in a clear message that this is a decision he made with his great knowledge in the sciences of sports performance., which is a highly desirable aspect of team management combined with electrical metrics to create successful franchises.
Your battle to get there
Nearly a decade ago, she worked as a waitress and changed her name from Rachel to Ray on her resume. and emailing to hide her gender after 15 teams rejected her.
“My mom was saying life isn’t fair,” Rachel said in December 2019, a month after she was called up by the Yankees as a junior batting coach.. “Is that fair? Doesn’t it matter? No, you have to keep standing on that door and knocking on it.”
She became a tough person to be taken lightly and to show that her work is really worth it, which helped him to join the major league institutions.
“I see my way as an advantage. I probably should have done a lot more than my male counterpart, But I like it because I’m more prepared for the challenges I might face.”
Her first opportunity came with the St. Louis Cardinals, who hired her as a strength and conditioning coordinator in their development system. He was with them between 2011 and 2015, until he left in 2016 for the Houston Astros strength and conditioning program for Latin American players, so he learned Spanish to get close to his players. Later, she was promoted to strength and training coach for Corpus Christi Hooks, Team Astros’ Class AA.
While studying in the Netherlands, Balkovec worked as an assistant hitting coach for the baseball and softball programs for the Dutch national team; He earned his master’s degree and returned to the United States to work on a fellowship at Driveline Baseball, a data center that trains Major League Baseball players., in order to investigate hitters’ eye tracking and bowlers’ hip movement.
In 2019, Balkovec joined the ranks of the New York Yankees and minor league system as a rookie hitting coach in the Florida Complex League. In 2020, with the onset of the pandemic and the suspension of the Major League season, she tried her luck as a coach in the Australian Baseball League, where she remained until the resumption of activities in the United States.
“I started thinking about my long journey. I’ve been in this game for over 10 years so this is something that’s going to be a long time coming. My first reaction was to make sure this is something I’ve earned and that I’m getting it for the right reasons, maybe not just because of my gender,” he told MLB after revealing his chance with the Tarpons.
so he said
“I probably should have done a lot more than my male counterpart, But I like it because I’m more prepared for the challenges I might face.”
“My first reaction was to make sure this was something I won And that’s what I get for the right reasons, maybe not just because of my gender.”
Rachel Balkovich
Tampa Tarpons Manager
the key
train promises
In 2021, Balkovic was a coach for All-Star Futures Game, an exhibition fencing before the Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Coors Field in Denver.
MGC
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