Meet the intern who scored the lucky spot as an athletic trainer with the Blue Jays
Dylan Langlois will be front and centre for tonight’s home opener against the Seattle Mariners
The Toronto Blue Jays kick off the 2024 season today with their home opener against the Seattle Mariners — and a young man from LaSalle, Ont., will have one of the best seats in Rogers Centre.
In fact, Dylan Langlois will be at every Jays home game all season working as an intern in athletic therapy.
The third-year Sheridan College student previously graduated from the University of Windsor's Human Kinetics program. Langlois was the only student selected to work with the major league team as a trainer.
Langlois spoke with CBC Radio's Windsor Morning guest host Peter Duck. Here is part of their conversation.
What exactly does someone working in athletic therapy do with a pro sports team?
Well the position that I'll be in will be a little bit different from the head trainers and the assistant trainers that are there. A little bit less hands-on stuff for me. But a lot of behind the scenes work helping get the athletes ready.
Seven o'clock game tonight, so we'll get things going around 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., making sure everything [the players] need is ready to go, that the clinic looks great. We're there to support them and to make sure that they're at their peak for the game tonight.
How much exposure do you expect to have to the players?
I luckily did get to meet some of them last night when they got back from their road trip, which was a very surreal experience. You've got to be as professional as possible, but deep down inside there's always that little bit of "Wow, there's professional athletes right here in front of me."
But I'll get to be with them throughout every home game of the year, and that's going to be an experience of a lifetime.
What kind of educational path did you take to get to this point?
After graduating from Villanova High School, I completed a degree in Human Kinetics at the University of Windsor. While I was there, I was on co-op at Active Body Physical Therapy in LaSalle. I met an athletic therapist who pushed me towards athletic therapy.
Why do you think the Jays chose you for this role?
That's a tough question. I think my passion for baseball and my passion for helping people, those two combined would, I would say, would be my two biggest strengths in this area.
I love the game. I don't need to be in the spotlight. I don't need [it] to be known that I'm back there in the training room helping out. I just want to make sure that they're ready to go for all their games and hope we see a lot of Blue Jays wins this year.
You were a big baseball fan growing up. Was it the Jays or the Tigers you cheered for?
Well, it was the Tigers. Being in [the] Toronto area the last couple years, I've followed the Jays a little bit more. I'm going to have to put my personal thoughts behind. I still might cheer for the Tigers a little bit deep down, but I'm a full on Blue Jays guy now.
Are you allowed to cheer in a role like yours, like when you're around out in the game, watching the game at the field?
I mean, I don't see why not. You gotta enjoy your job and you gotta enjoy what you do, right? Those guys are there working hard, and you want to be there not only to support them through their health, but also support them through all their successes that they're going to have on the field.
Where will you be during the game tonight?
Usually I'll be … right next to the third base dugout. But we'll be running around between the training room and the halls underneath.
Even though there's a game going on, we've still got a lot of work to do to make sure everything's going well.
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