MILWAUKEE — From the soccer field to the basketball court, Alexa Maletis is focused on being the best.

She’s a senior on the Marquette University Women’s Soccer team. Due to the pandemic, she’s eligible for another year. 

“We are building something really special which is cool,” said Maletis. “I found a home here. Found my best friends and everything.”

As a collegiate athlete, she knows firsthand how important athletic trainers are to the team. 

“They’re the people on the sidelines doing anything from first aid to rehab to post-op treatments,” said Maletis. 

It’s a career path Maletis decided to take on. She was accepted into the program at Marquette in her junior year. 

“Sports have always been something I’ve always been really passionate about,” said Maletis. “Doing that as a career has some really cool upsides to it.” 

Since she joined the program, soccer hasn’t been the only sport she’s focused on. In the evenings, she’s the student athletic trainer for the Marquette Men’s Basketball team. 

“I start off doing a lot of shadowing and a lot of small tasks they ask me to do,” said Maletis. “Now really, I get to have more of an input. They ask for my ideas. I have a little more ability to go through some manual exercises with them or deal with some of the manual therapy when they’re sore.” 

Maletis said Kenny Wilka has been influential throughout this process. He’s both the men’s basketball and women’s soccer athletic trainer. 

“She’s got great empathy for her patients and her athletes but she’s also a highly intrinsically motivated individual,” said Wilka. “It’s what you need to be to be an athletic trainer.” 

Wilka was awarded an Athletic Trainer Service Award from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association this year. Maletis is hopeful one day to follow in his footsteps. 

“It’s a strange feeling going to college and being away from your family and he really fills that role in a way and I’ve always had that trust in him to be there for me,” said Maletis. “I’ve really tried to emulate that as much of a way that I can.” 

While Maletis still has time before she graduates, she said she’s hopeful to work with a sports team in some capacity.

It is her goal to continue to help athletes, just as she was helped throughout her soccer career.