Taking an Otago education to Major League Baseball

After studying at Dunedin’s Bayfield College, Otago was always front and centre for alumnus Andy Pohl, but after a semester at the University in 2007 his passion for skiing drew him to Canada.

Andy then spent two years studying at a satellite campus of the University of Alberta and competing for New Zealand at cross-country skiing.

“I was at the time one of the best skiers in Australasia, I never quite made the Olympic standards but got the opportunity to race at the World Cup and go to a few World Championships, so that was good.”

He says when the competition season aligned, he returned to New Zealand and his studies at Otago.

“It looked like going back to Otago would be a better fit for trying to compete at World Cup level while finishing my studies.”

Andy studied Sports Technology and Maths (BAppSc, BSc, 2014) for the next three years.

“I really enjoyed my time in Otago, it was a unique campus. Having spent time at three different faculties around the world, I think Otago has a good balance between a strong academic side of things, while providing a fun atmosphere at the same time.”

His favourite professors included Professor Matthew Schofield from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and Professor Chris Button from the School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences.

“Professor Schofield reignited my interest in statistics through a few courses and some work I did with him after finishing and Chris Button, who through his flexibility helped me through the Sports Technology programme, which was quite a blessing.”

He also well remembers Physiology lectures with Professor Jim Cotter and Maths lectures with Professor Boris Baeumer.

“He (Boris Baeumer) had some entertaining lectures as well, challenging, very hard, but enjoyable.”

While studying at Otago, Andy was awarded the Otago Scholarship in Science in 2013 and the Gopi Jain Memorial Prize in Statistics in 2017.

After returning to Canada for two more years of skiing, he spent two and a half years working for High Performance Sport New Zealand, as an elite athlete analyst in its Dunedin office.

During this time, he met his future wife, Alberta native Kalli Green, who was working in New Zealand at the time.

Andy moved to Calgary to begin a PhD in Biomechanics in 2018 and this was also a good opportunity to move closer to Kalli, who had returned to her home to teach in middle school there.

While completing his PhD in 2025, Andy was offered his current role as a biomechanics consultant with Major League Baseball team the Philadelphia Phillies.

“It’s an exciting new world for me in terms of sports analytics and biomechanics in baseball. The sport is pretty new for a guy from New Zealand, so it’s been a rapid learning curve.

“Seeing the scale of this sport in the US and depth to which everything is analysed is pretty cool.”

Andy says it’s been a turbulent year for the Phillies with a few ups and downs, but despite this the team made it to the first round of the playoffs.

He says he’s looking forward to next season and he and Kalli have long-term plans to remain in Calgary, where he can mainly work from.

-Kōrero by Kerry Dohig, Communications Adviser Development and Alumni Relations Office