This feature originally appeared in the Spring edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to calbearbackers@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.
In less than two years, the Cal Baseball Career & Business Network Initiative has gone from a proposal to a powerful vehicle connecting current and former Golden Bears with former Major Leaguers and other alumni across a range of industries, preparing them for futures off the diamond in an effort that has energized the entire Cal baseball family.
“It's caring for them beyond baseball,” explained head coach David Esquer. “And it makes you proud to see how willing the alumni are to step up and be a part of it.”
The initiative was brought to the Cal Baseball Foundation during the summer of 2014 by former outfielder Constantine “Gus” Panagotacos, an attorney who graduated from the university in 2001, and fellow attorney and foundation board member Gwyn-Mohr Tully, a pitcher for the Bears before his graduation in 1992. They worked with the board to refine their vision and plan its development in consultation with other stakeholders on campus, including the Office of Compliance and the Academic Study Center.
The initiative's first event was held in April of 2015 at a laboratory space operated by the Haas School of Business in California Memorial Stadium, where Professor Stephen Etter, a Cal alumnus and founding partner of Greyrock Capital Group, was joined as keynote speaker by former Cal and MLB player Kevin Maas, now a vice president and financial consultant at Charles Schwab. Etter's presentation on the foundational elements of a professional portfolio was followed by Maas' overview on his transition from professional baseball to the finance industry, after which the attendees split into 10 breakout groups, each of which featured alumni and a current student-athlete from the Haas School of Business.
The second event, in the Stadium Club in November of 2015, included the entire team, coaching staff and more than 20 alumni, with current and former MLB players Marcus Semien, John Baker and Tyler Walker in attendance. A round-table structure offered student-athletes a range of fields, and each chose three in succession, giving them the opportunity to connect with alumni in specific industries of interest, from real estate, law, technology, sales, entrepreneurship and start-ups, to finance, public service, sports management and marketing.
“Cal is providing a road map and guidelines for what to expect when you're done playing,” said Baker, the 2002 Pac-10 batting champion at Cal who recently transitioned from his seven-year professional playing career into the front office of the Chicago Cubs, where he is “learning everything,” as he said, in baseball operations. “Baseball players trust former baseball players because they share that common experience.”
The initiative has also cultivated a growing platform on LinkedIn and is developing a mentoring match program between alumni and players, pairing current student-athletes and former players with professionals in businesses aligned with their skills and interests.
“The Cal Baseball Foundation is focused on the educational aspect of a successful future for these young men, which I applaud along with the leadership of alumni like Gus for his ability to drive the initiative and get other alumni to give back in such a meaningful way,” Etter said. “This is a very important reminder that backing a team is about much more than supporting a run to a tournament or a national championship.”
“Cal baseball players may have juggled school and baseball quite well over a four-year period and learned valuable lessons about teamwork, discipline and how to overcome obstacles,” Panagotacos said. “All of those things are very important in the business world, but it doesn't immediately translate into a resume. The baseball alumni who have gone through and learned from that process are particularly well equipped to go back and speak to the current players about their experiences. We encourage the student-athletes to maintain focus not only on baseball but also a 'Plan B' so that when baseball ends, they're better prepared.”
Director of Athletics Mike Williams called the Cal Baseball Career & Business Network Initiative “consistent with our mission in Intercollegiate Athletics to be educators for our student-athletes and a support network for our alumni. The more and better support available to these student-athletes and alumni, the better and more successful their transitions and subsequent careers prove to be when have crossed home plate for the final time in their playing careers.”
Ashwin Puri, an Associate Athletic Director, the Chief Revenue Officer and the Intercollegiate Athletics supervisor for baseball at Cal, was a panelist at the November 2015 event. “Our job is to create the conditions of success for student-athletes on and off the field,” he said. “This network is a huge piece to help us do that, now and in the future.”
The latest event in the initiative's growing history, held April 27 in the Haas Club Room, featured two keynote speakers of distinction. Andy Dolich, who has held such titles as Executive Vice President of the Oakland A's and President of the Golden State Warriors among his front-office duties in virtually every major U.S. sport, offered wisdom that he is also sharing as the Director of Career Development for the Collegiate Athletics Master's Program at the University of San Francisco. He was joined by Sharon Black, the Senior District President of Northern California at Robert Half International, one of the world's largest staffing and consulting firms.
“All college grads have their own area of specialty, their own background and they all contribute to the employment market in a different way,” said Black. “What's important is for each person to have his own personalized brand.”
Baseball players in particular, she said, “are very dedicated. They can talk about the accountability, their time management and perfecting their craft. Those are great skills to bring to the table. They have then mental strength to handle letdowns and the resolve to rise to the occasion, which are vital in the transition from sports to work life.”
The third flank of the initiative is mentoring, pairing seniors with people whose businesses match their skills and interests. Alumni who have already gotten engaged, like Baker, have been happy to take on their roles as mentors. “I've been in their shoes,” he said. “Whenever you played baseball at Cal, you consider today's players your teammates. We can help them and future players take what we've learned to improve their chances of success in anything.”
Current student-athletes are grateful to be part of the initiative's first two years and see a future for themselves in the alumni stepping forward to mentor them.
“Balancing school and baseball, it's easy to get stuck, especially during the season,” said senior outfielder Sean Peters. “Any extra time, you're out there taking extra ground balls, fly balls and doing extra hitting, and given the choice, the thing you're passionate about is baseball. But as you get older, you realize most of us do go pro in something other than our sport and you've got to think about your future. With this network and the alumni's help, our team has really benefited. When I'm done, I'll be back to see the new wave of guys, and what today's alumni people are doing for us, I want to do for them.”
Parents are understandably grateful for the initiative, too. “It is my absolute favorite thing to be part of the career network,” said Kriste Buckley, mother of sophomore pitcher Andrew Buckley and parent coordinator for the initiative. “It's such a sense of security knowing that it is there for them, and it drives home the fact that Cal baseball is a family.”
The Cal Athletics family will continue to be excited by the achievements of this team on and off the field. For more information about the Cal Baseball Career & Business Network Initiative, email Gus Panagotacos at cpanagotacos@dpllp.com.
