NCAA, MiLB jobs put Levitt on fast track

Levitt-Sam(November 18, 2014) Sam Levitt has been out of college for just six months but two new jobs will already have him doing play-by-play year-around. An STAA client, Levitt is the new Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations for minor league baseball’s Gateway Grizzlies, and he is joining the broadcast team at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.

The opportunity with the Grizzlies is actually a promotion as Levitt spent last season as a broadcasting and media assistant to Adam Young. Young left this summer for a job at New Mexico State University. With SIUE, Levitt will handle play-by-play of all women’s basketball games, work with veteran SIUE voice Joe Pott on men’s games, and handle play-by-play on men’s games when Pott slides over to the TV side for FOX Sports Midwest broadcasts.

SIUE brought in five people to interview for the position. Four of them were STAA clients.

“I had met Joe Pott a few times during the baseball season,” says Levitt. “When the SIUE gigs opened up, I immediately contacted Joe to see what was happening with the job. After interviewing with the athletic department during the fall, I was offered the position.”

Levitt is excited about the experience that will come with the two jobs. “During the next ten months or so, I’ll have the opportunity to call an entire Division I basketball season and a full professional baseball season. At 22, it’s a tremendous chance to hone my craft and improve on-air. These opportunities also put me on-air in a top-25 market, which is so valuable.”

The Grizzlies are based in the St. Louis suburb of Sauget, IL. The SIUE campus is just 30 minutes away.

Getting a jump on the job market while still in school, and making new contacts were keys to setting up Levitt in his current situation.

“I was aggressive in the job market during my senior year at Northwestern, and my decision to originally come to Gateway for a summer ultimately led to me making these connections around the area.”

Levitt encourages other aspiring sportscasters to take a similar approach.

“You must be aggressive while in school at trying to cultivate relationships with other broadcasters and professionals in the industry. It’s so important to get feedback on your work at an early stage, and you never know where those connections may lead you down the road.

“A funny story: I actually emailed Adam Young randomly two summers ago when I was working in the Cape Cod Baseball League. I came across his name on Twitter and sent him some of my work. A year later, he ended up hiring me at Gateway and that really put things in motion when more opportunities became available with the Grizzlies and SIUE. It’s a small example of how important it is to be aggressive in trying to reach out to all different kinds of people in the business.”

(Visit Sam’s website).

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