Lakeland’s Nancy Patterson Hits the Big Leagues

Nancy Patterson, a 2001 Lakeland graduate, wanted to be an athletic trainer since high school.

After she won the Con Ed Scholar Athlete Award in her senior year for her prowess as a six-time All-American gymnast, she told legendary sportscaster Bob Wolff about her goal during a radio interview.

"So I understand you want to stay in the sports field after college. Tell me about it," she recalled Wolff saying.

"Yes, I want to be an athletic trainer for the Yankees," Patterson said.

"The Yankees?" he continued. "Engineer Tim Feldman, get George Steinbrenner on the phone. ... I'll see you at spring training." 

"Sounds good!" Patterson said. 

That interview turned out to foreshadow Patterson's career path; she is now an assistant athletic trainer for the Los Angeles Dodgers, a post she has held since the middle of May.

For the first month and a half of the season, she was the team’s assistant rehabilitation coordinator in Phoenix, Arizona. That’s where players at all levels of the organization who have prolonged injuries get sent to do their rehab.

While she spent the first part of the season in Arizona, she had a chance to take part in the Dodgers’ opening day ceremonies before their game against their arch-rival San Francisco Giants. Patterson got to hear her name announced on the public address system at Dodgers Stadium as she walked out onto the field in front of 56,000 people before a 2-1 Dodgers’ victory.

“That meant a lot to be a part of that and experience that with everyone,” Patterson said. “It was a great day for me.”

Patterson, who was inducted into the Lakeland Hall of Fame last fall, said her love of baseball has been a big motivator.

“Growing up, I was always watching the Yankees with my dad,” Patterson said. “Our whole family always watched baseball and went to as many games as we could. That’s how I knew I really liked baseball.”

Don Mattingly, one of the stars Patterson saw play when she watched the Yankees as a kid, is now the Dodgers’ manager.

“He’s just a great person and fun to be around every day,” Patterson said. “He’s easy to talk too. During BP (batting practice) he walks around and talks to everyone. He just has this energy about him.”

Another influence on her career was Meg Greiner, who was an athletic trainer in the Lakeland school district when Patterson was in high school. Greiner now works at Hendrick Hudson school district.

“Meg is a fun person, a great athletic trainer, she really helped me,” Patterson said. “I had a lot of back issues. She is the one who taught me that it wasn’t always all or nothing, if you moderate your activity level you will still be able to compete in the competitions.”

Greiner said she isn’t surprised that Patterson is where she is today.

“I knew if she went into it, she would be great because she was always asking questions,” Greiner said. “We dealt a lot with her back injury during gymnastics. She was always receptive to anything I was trying to do to try and help her stay involved in gymnastics.”

Greiner said that she is proud to know that someone she influenced turned out to be a major league athletic trainer.

“That’s the top of the top,” Greiner said.

Patterson said that Greiner was a good role model as a trainer.

“She loved her job and I saw how much fun that would be,” Patterson said.

Working with a major league team has taught Patterson that while it’s a fun job, it’s also a profession where only the truly dedicated need to apply.

“People who turn on a game and watch think everyone gets there an hour or two before the game but that’s really not the case,” Patterson said. “It’s not just athletic trainers. Everyone in the organization usually gets there at least four, five, six hours before the game to prepare and then stays afterwards. It’s a lot longer day than the three hours or so it takes to play the game.”

Before the Dodgers

Patterson attended Ithaca College and graduated in 2005 with a major in clinical science exercise. She went back to Ithaca for her athletic training, and she got a master's degree there in 2008 in clinical exercise science with a concentration in sports psychology.

Patterson first worked in the Dodgers organization for the Inland Empire 66ers, the team's Single-A affiliate based in San Bernardo, Calif. She was then promoted to the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts for the ‘09 season.

Before that, she interned for two years of rookie ball with the Seattle Mariners and one year with the Boston Red Sox.