The Dodgers on Monday made official their hire of Sue Falsone as Head Athletic Trainer and Physical Therapist, making her the first female head athletic trainer in Major League Baseball history.
"It is a true honor to be given this opportunity with such a progressive and historic organization," said Falsone. "My work with the Dodgers over the past few years as well as my time with AP will serve me well in taking this next step. I look forward to helping develop innovative and creative programs to reduce injuries and keep our players on the field so that they can achieve their potential."
Stan Conte, who was the head athletic trainer for the last five years, will continue become Senior Director of Medical Services. He will oversee the medical departments in the majors and minors and handle medical risk assessment and injury management. Conte will no longer be in the dugout during games and won't travel with the team.
“Sue’s credentials, previous sports medicine and strength and conditioning experience as well as her involvement with the Dodgers over the past four years make her uniquely qualified to lead the club’s Medical Department into a new and exciting direction,” said Conte. “She brings a fresh perspective to injury prevention and management that I strongly believe will reduce lost time due to injuries for the Dodgers.”
The rest of the training staff will be Assistant Athletic Trainer Nancy Patterson, Assistant Athletic Trainer Greg Harrel, Strength and Conditioning Coach Stephen Downey and Massage Therapist Ichiro Tani.
Falsone earned a masters degree in human movement science with an emphasis in sports medicine at North Carolina. She has also been with Athletes Performance Institute for 10 years, and will "will spearhead a new partnership between the Dodgers and AP," per the Dodgers. Per her bio at AP:
Sue has presented at both state and national level conferences in areas focusing on pillar strength, integration of physical therapy and performance training, and comprehensive kinetic chain assessment and rehabilitation. She's a Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Sports Physical Therapy (SCS), a certified athletic trainer (ATC), and a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
She's certified in augmented soft tissue mobilization (ASTYM) through Performance Dynamics. She also holds an adjunct faculty position with the human movement program at AT Still University. Sue's exceptional hands-on skills and knowledge of human movement provides the critical link from therapy to performance. With her expertise, she develops and implements therapy regimens for the athletes and works closely with our performance coaches to integrate the rehabilitating athlete into the training process.
AP, which is located in Phoenix, will help the Dodgers "build a program of player physical development across the minor and Major League systems" that will be year round.