(March 10, 2020) Laura Hoover grew up a mere fifteen minutes from Gary, IN where she is the new Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations for the SouthShore RailCats, an independent American Association team.
She succeeds fellow STAA member Jared Shlensky.
STAA members were tipped off to the opportunity in a December Job Leads email. However, Hoover missed the note and instead learned of the opening when the team found her in the Talent Search database on the STAA website. “I got a call from the General Manager, Mr. Brian Flenner,” she recalls. “He got a hold of material through STAA and saw that I was local so he called me and we started to explore if it would be a good fit.”
A lengthy Internet job search had led Hoover to STAA last year. After asking around about STAA, she decided to join to see where it would take her. She adds, “It’s always nice to have people willing to listen and critique you when you otherwise know your own circle of friends will probably just tell you what you want to hear.”
Hoover spent last season broadcasting in the NECBL summer collegiate league. While she had spent the previous eight years broadcasting several games each week, the NECBL gig offered daily broadcasts.
“The NECBL allowed me to take all the things that I knew and drove into muscle memory and expand on them, and forced me to change how I prepare and become more efficient,” she says. Additionally, her knowledge of the game expanded while she was “meeting some amazing broadcasters” and learning fresh ways to tell the same story.
There are several factors Hoover believes helped in her pursuit of this position. In addition to working hard, continuing to broadcast, and not giving up, she also aimed “to listen to other broadcasters, to try and learn something new every time I take to the mic or talk to a player or a coach.”
Hoover’s ties to the area may have given her the home field advantage with the RailsCats job. Not only did she grow up nearby, but she also graduated from Goshen College in Indiana. And she’s in no hurry to leave. She still loves her hometown and believes her roots have uniquely equipped her to connect to the RailCats, their fans, and the local stations.
Hoover shares, “It’s my home and I am happy I get to give back to a ballpark that has given me entertainment since childhood.”
(Visit Laura’s website).