During the Spring 2020 semester, while I was completing my Senior Capstone as a media relations intern with minor league baseball’s Pensacola (FL) Blue Wahoos, COVID-19 hit, shutting down the sport industry and putting the Wahoos’ season on hold.
The transition was abrupt. Less than two weeks before, we hosted a college baseball tournament, where I acted as a cameraperson, scoreboard operator and game photographer.
When COVID-19 hit, we had just entered the final stages of our Opening Day preparations. My primary projects were all intended to be finalized by our April 9 opening, including rebuilding and managing the team’s new website and finalizing the production of the team’s 2020 Media Guide. I wrote articles and press releases, attended media events, and assisted in game-day production. We spent months working in earnest toward a finish line that, very suddenly, no longer existed.
After COVID-19 suspended the Wahoos’ season and the organization transitioned to working remotely, my role changed significantly for the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. I focused primarily on the website, which had to be entirely rebuilt in a new software. Shortly thereafter, I was offered the opportunity to work remotely on media relations for the Beloit (Wisc.) Snappers, the Class-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. For the remainder of my Spring 2020 Capstone, I rebuilt the Snappers’ website and assisted with graphic design, marketing and social media.
After graduating from Syracuse University in May 2020, I transitioned to a remote media relations role with the Snappers, while remaining in Pensacola, Florida. I now manage the Snappers’ social media accounts and website, as well as assist with the marketing for a new stadium and team rebranding.
This was obviously not the way I envisioned my senior Capstone playing out. I anticipated working closely with the media and players, publishing my first game stories and hopefully seeing the Twins’ top prospects in action. Instead, I spent Opening Day social distancing at home, doing my best to keep the team prepared for the season to start at any moment.
While COVID-19 has brought disappointment and heartbreak for so many, the transition taught me the importance of workplace community. I saw first-hand the value of creativity and willingness to think outside the box. I never anticipated working remotely for half of my Capstone and running a media department for a team 1,000 miles away a month after graduation. I will not say it has been easy, but I am grateful for these challenges. I know this entire experience — the planned and the unprecedented — has prepared me for anything the sport industry can throw at me in the future.