Minnesota native Drew Steele is trading his parka for a beach towel. He’s the new Director of Media Relations and Broadcasting for Corpus Christi IceRays hockey.
Steele admits that Texas is a little outside his comfort zone, but he views it as a great opportunity. He explains, “I will get to engage with a new audience and experience living in a new part of the country.”
As the former public address announcer for the St. Cloud Norsemen, Steele is familiar with the NAHL. He’s excited to continue in the league with the IceRays.
Lifelong sports fan
Steele grew up playing hockey, which fed his passion for hockey play-by-play. He also enjoys watching sports and learning sports trivia. He says, “[A coworker] said that I had prepped more for one game than they had over their career combined. I actually like the process of knowing little facts that I may never use, but to know that I have them makes me feel at ease on game nights.”
Honing off-mike skills
A 2021 graduate of St. Cloud State University, Steele learned about the IceRays opportunity through an STAA job leads email. He applied almost immediately, and believes that played a part in landing the job, along with his graphic design portfolio.
He explains, “Over the past month or so outside of college, I have been mocking up graphics. In applying for the job…I also took about ten minutes out of my day to change some of the graphics to how they would apply to the IceRays.”
Steele joined STAA in February and feels that STAA’s weekly Insider emails helped him to make his resume more interesting to prospective employers. He adds, “I didn’t know what my next step would be after college. I was nervous about stepping into the real world. As much as I like my hometown, I didn’t want to have to move back in with my parents for years after college. I’m glad joined STAA.”