The New York Mets today announced that the club has named Jim Cavallini, the team's Director of Performance and Sports Science, promoted Brian Chicklo to head trainer and named Joseph Golia the team's assistant trainer.
Cavallini will oversee the coordination of the Mets performance group, which includes the medical staff, trainers, physical therapists, strength coach, massage therapist and sports dietitian. In addition, he will supervise our major league players' health and performance.
Cavallini spent the last three years as the Director of Performance for the United States Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, NC. He recruited, managed and led an elite team of high performance professionals that included performance coaches, athletic trainers, dietitians, sports scientists and cognitive performance coaches. Cavallini oversaw all aspects of the performance program. He was the Performance Program Manager for the United States Army Special Operations Command from 2010-2015, where he was the lead developer of all performance training and testing methodology and coaching for injured soldiers.
Cavallini was the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Virginia from August, 2007-December, 2009. He also served as the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Iowa from August, 2005-August, 2007.
Chicklo enters his 20th year in the Mets organization and has served as the team's assistant trainer since 2012. He was the Mets Minor League Medical Coordinator in 2011 and had spent the previous nine seasons as the trainer for the club's Triple-A affiliates in Buffalo, NY, New Orleans, LA and Norfolk, VA. Chicklo was named the Pacific Coast League's Athletic Trainer of the Year in 2008.
Golia was the Mets Minor League Medical Coordinator last year. This season will mark his 13th in the Mets organization. He was the Mets Triple-A trainer from 2011-2015 and held the same position with Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League from 2006-2010.