Chicago Cubs head athletic trainer and ECU alum reflects on career

As head athletic trainer for the 2016 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs, East Carolina University alumnus PJ Mainville ’97 recommends that students understand the value of service.

“I am always looking for something new or different to help the players,” Mainville said. “Athletic training is a perfect blend of athletics and the medical field.”

In his fifth season with the Cubs, Mainville is responsible for the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of sports injuries for the team, where he oversees 23 staff members in athletic training and strength and conditioning. He said establishing relationships with his team and players is the best part of his job.

Chicago Cubs head athletic trainer examines a baseball player’s elbow. (Photo by David Durochik)

The Warrenton, Virginia native wanted to attend college out of state and said his visit to ECU sold him. “The people were welcoming and I settled into the community well,” Mainville said.

Head athletic trainer for the Chicago Cubs holds the 2016 World Series Trophy. (Contributed photo)

Although the athletic training degree had not been established, the curriculum to prepare students for the Board of Certification exam to become nationally certified was offered through the exercise and sport science degree, which is the path Mainville chose.

“The expectations of the curriculum that Dr. Katie Flanagan developed helped prepare students for the real world,” he said.

Now that Mainville has reached his goal of being a head athletic trainer, he said his perspective has changed. And he eventually wants to teach in a university setting once his time is finished in baseball.

“I am helping to prepare those under me to take my job one day,” he said.

Mainville worked more than 13 years in the minor leagues with the Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks while entering his seventh season in major league baseball.  He earned a master’s degree in 2005 in performance enhancement from California University of Pennsylvania.

–Kathy Muse