ALUMNI PROFILE

Andy Suiter

Class of 2005

After the final pitch: Suiter races across Britain, finds new passion and purpose in the long run

Andy Suiter

CLASS OF ’05

When Andy Suiter ’05 stepped onto the cliffs at Land’s End in southwest England last June, he set out to run 1,200 miles across Great Britain—drawing on the resilience and determination he had forged while rebuilding his life after baseball.

Suiter, who struggled with depression and anxiety following the end of his pro athletic career, said that personal experience inspired him to raise money for a cause near and dear to his heart while pursuing a new passion for ultra running.

His training consisted of running distances longer than a marathon, and the event itself had him running 30 to 40 miles most days—camping along the way—with just a light backpack and sheer determination. “Leaning in on why I was doing this was, without a doubt, the most important factor.”

It was a self-created adventure with a clear purpose: to help support others going through many of the same experiences and feelings that he had. The Homeless World Cup gives athletes experiencing homelessness an opportunity to compete on a team and “go from feeling forgotten to feeling celebrated.” While Suiter never experienced homelessness, he did fight the challenges of life after sport.

Andy Suiter covered 30 to 40 miles per day for the Homeless World Cup run.

Beyond Baseball

Suiter grew up playing baseball. He was a star pitcher at Menlo, named county player of the year in 2005, and then went on to play at UCLA and UC Davis. In water polo, he was a two-time all-CCS selection despite never having played before coming to Menlo.

Out of UC Davis, Suiter was drafted in the 32nd round by the New York Yankees, and the next year he was drafted in the 10th round by Los Angeles, where he played three seasons in the Dodgers organization.

From his Little League days to the minors, his sights were set on the Big Leagues. “My identity was Andy, the baseball player. So when I was released from the Dodgers, it was a total crash,” Suiter said. “This is super common in sports, but it also happens with people who retire or become empty nesters. We have these identities that we sometimes can hold really tightly to.’’

What pulled him through was community and the willingness to ask for help. “After leaving baseball, I was crushed. There are a number of reasons why I was able to get back to a place where I felt fully alive.’’

He turned to his family, along with mentors and therapists who reached out and supported him as he was struggling with his identity. “What followed were years of searching for meaning and direction, and I eventually found my way back to feeling joy in life,’’ Suiter said.

After leaving baseball, I was crushed. There are a number of reasons why I was able to get back to a place where I felt fully alive.’’

–Andy Suiter ’05

“When I think about the Homeless World Cup, it’s creating an opportunity for people to be able to rise up...to have the opportunity to get back on their feet, to feel inspired to find that confidence and belief in themselves.’’

—Andy Suiter ’05

From Passion to Purpose

Suiter was succeeding at work but still struggling with the absence of baseball, which had been such a major part of his life. He started running with a couple of friends from work, progressing to a half-marathon and then a full. After nearly a decade at a start-up, he decided to take a career sabbatical in 2022, where he completed a 110-kilometer trail run in Greece and backpacked through remote trails from Slovenia south to Bosnia. Back in the Bay Area, he lived at a zen monastery for a few months. “It was important to find these new deep passions that wouldn’t necessarily replace baseball, but where I could feel that sense of presence and flow.”

The roots of that pursuit, he'd later realize, were at Menlo, where he was “pushed by people to get curious and investigate all these other parts of myself. With that encouragement, I joined student government as a class senator and did improv with drama teacher Ms. Beth Orr. I think that’s so critical because, yes, I was a very good baseball player, but I also played water polo, I did improv and student government, and that is sort of a product of the environment that I was in that pushed for all of that.’’

That culture—try new things, follow curiosity, don’t let a label define you—became essential when baseball ended. So did his willingness to lean on others. “I was super lucky to have a family that I was able to open up to, and being able to share not just with my mom and dad but also my brothers that I was in pain was critical in asking for help. Plus, I had a therapist whom I still stay in touch with and I have a mentor at the start-up I worked for.’’

Now, as a mental performance coach, he intends to pay it forward. “I wanted to be able to do the same for as many people as I could,’’ said Suiter, who earned his master’s in sport and performance psychology at the University of Denver and is beginning work as a psychotherapist.

He has also doubled down on meditation, which he was first introduced to via hypnosis when a veteran pitching coach suggested it during his years in the minors. Though he doesn’t think he was ever hypnotized with that initial meeting, he was intrigued.

“I definitely experienced deep meditation,’’ he said. “The shift was night and day, just how I was able to release the anxiety and understand that those weren’t all my thoughts, just that they were the things that I could really pay attention to.’’

It wasn’t until years after he left the sport that he started practicing meditation regularly. “After baseball, I wasn’t able to walk on my own free will to a zen center, but after a couple of years, I was hooked. I realized how powerful it was.’’

Full-Circle

Meditation and mental training was as imperative to Suiter’s preparation for the Homeless World Cup Run as the physical miles he ran. Now living in Mexico City, he is supporting other young athletes find focus and build inner confidence so they can compete or work with greater freedom. He helps them recognize their value beyond their accomplishments and helps them “avoid pitfalls of losing their self-worth if they don’t get the scholarship, or if they’re done after college, or if they get cut in the minors.’’

Much like the Homeless World Cup and inspired by his own journey, Suiter’s work is about “creating an opportunity for people to be able to rise up—to have the opportunity to get back on their feet, to feel inspired to find that confidence and belief in themselves again.’’