Throughout the fall semester, the City University of New York Athletic Conference will spotlight campus administrators, who go above and beyond for our student-athletes to ensure they have a positive and successful collegiate experience.
The role of an Athletic Trainer is invaluable to the success of an athletic department. Athletic Trainers are the primary liaison between the athlete and the coaches when communicating information regarding conditions that affect the athlete’s playing status. An Athletic Trainer is present for practices and on gameday, providing treatment before, during and after competition. An Athletic Trainer is available throughout the week for treatment and is there every step of the way should an athlete suffer an injury. These duties best describe the role of
Ivan Mak, Head Athletic Trainer at Queensborough Community College.
Mak arrived at Queensborough in March of 2019, which he views as “homecoming”.
“I pretty much grew up in Bayside,” said Mak. “I went to Cardozo [High School], where I was Captain of the lacrosse team. I learned about athletic training through a sports medicine class I took at Cardozo.”
It was through that course that Mak knew he wanted to be in the medical field, specifically in Sports Medicine. Mak attended Stony Brook University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training while studying in Stony Brook’s Division of Sports Medicine, a highly touted program in New York State.
“I started my career at Professional Physical Therapy, where I worked for 9 years,” said Mak. “I went from being an Outreach Athletic Trainer, to a Clinical Athletic Trainer, to becoming a Regional Sports Medicine Coordinator, where I oversaw Athletic Trainers, taking on a mentoring role.”
From there, Mak took his talents back to Bayside, tasked with providing care for the Tigers’ 13 intercollegiate programs.
While the primary role of an Athletic Trainer occurs during a practice or contest, Mak saw his day-to-day change due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, providing a new way to remain engaged and supporting student-athletes.
“When student-athletes reach out, I always tell them the virtual doors are open.”, said Mak. “We have a great IT Department at Queensborough, and they have helped our Athletics department adapt to virtual solutions.”
With his background in physical therapy, Mak has been utilizing Zoom to help serve student-athlete during these unprecedented times.
“From my prior experience working in physical therapy, telecommunication treatments were becoming more popular, and it is a very viable way to provide treatment sessions. So, I’ve been offering that to our athletes, video conference sessions to mimic the rehab and treatments we would have in the training room.”
In addition, Mak has taken advantage of CUNY’s Blackboard services as a resource to help athletes as well.
“We’ve built a Student Athlete's Hub on Blackboard where we can post important updates to each specific team as well as the whole Athletics program as a whole. I’ve also created a virtual Athletic Training Room within the hub, again trying to mimic the environment in the ATR. I’ll make weekly educational posts, such as strength and conditioning tips, injury education, nutrition tips, interesting reads, podcast episodes and other updates in the sports medicine field. I feel like education for the athletes is the most important part of our profession.”
Mak is a member of CUNYAC’s newly formed Sports Medicine Advisory Team, working for a safe return to play for our student-athletes, coaches and staff for the 2021 winter and spring athletic seasons. The Sports Medicine Advisory Team will provide instruction to the CUNYAC membership regarding training, practice, competition and championships, including on-site management of student-athletes and essential personnel, nonessential personnel and fans.
“It’s been great seeing how other CUNY Athletic Trainers and team physicians are managing the different campuses’ athletes. The most difficult thing to deal with is that the plan has to be a living document, as conditions of this virus change daily.”, said Mak. “Working under Dr. King’s guidance, the team will create the safest resocialization plan for our athletes.”
Mak is also a member of the New York State Athletic Trainers Association Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and knows the overall important of diversity and inclusion in college athletics.
“We serve to advocate and promote the advancement of diversity and inclusion in the athletic training profession,” said Mak. “We do a lot of community outreach to both educate and mentor both diverse students that are interested in athletic training and those already in the profession.” Mak says, "It’s important to build strength through diversity in college athletics. Diversity is important not only by providing recognition for every individual, it represents us as a whole. Especially in these trying times, we should turn to diversity to form stronger bonds with each other rather than let differences tear us apart.”
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