(May 17, 2016) Bret Leuthner waited until he was at the perfect location to tell his wife about his new job: the kids’ swim lessons. “I knew that if I waited until she arrived home from their swim lessons at the YMCA, she would have started crying,” he says.
Leuthner has been hired to handle broadcasting and media relations for the Sussex County Miners of the Can-Am baseball league. He found the job through a tip from STAA.
The opportunity comes to Leuthner only after some great challenges. In 2010 he was diagnosed with cancer. By 2011, chemotherapy had the disease in remission and Leuthner and his wife Adina welcomed twins in July of that year. Four months later, doctors told Leuthner the cancer had returned. Leuthner, though, was undaunted.
“I’ve had two mantras that I’ve developed over the past five or six years — essentially from the time I went through cancer treatments and surgeries: ‘Those who can, will; Those who can’t, won’t,’ and one of my favorite hashtags #CantStopWontStop.”
While fighting the return of the disease, Leuthner continued to work. In 2011 and 2012 he called games for the New Jersey Outlaws of the Federal Hockey League. In 2014 and 2015, it was Center Jump professional basketball in Saugerties, NY. Since last year, he has been broadcasting hockey for Middlebury College in Vermont and the Skylands junior Kings in New Jersey.
The drive to Middlebury is more than four hours from Leuthner’s home in Vernon, NJ. Again, those who can, will. Those who can’t, won’t.
Now Leuthner is getting into pro baseball for a team located just 20 minutes from his home. He understood that most most teams don’t give first opportunities to 42 year olds, but Leuthner had already overcome much longer odds.
“While some may look at my age and be reluctant to give an opportunity, I’m always confident that with hard work and determination, I can achieve any goals that I set for myself and my broadcast career,” says Leuthner.
Leuthner has been using STAA’s services since 2009 to help him towards his broadcasting goals.
“Every single service, from watching some Member Makeovers, to the Q&A sessions with industry professionals, to the One Day Ticket seminar every year, right down to the job leads that I get in my inbox almost daily, the services have been beyond helpful for my career. Plus, the ability to reach out to Jon and have an industry veteran to ask for advice just enhances everything even further,” he says.
Leuthner’s cancer continues to be in remission. With just a few more months of clean checkups, doctors will declare him totally out of the woods.
No tears were shed the afternoon at the YMCA when Leuthner told his wife he had landed the Miners job. He smiles when he says, “The plan worked until I got home [later that night], then the emotions came out!”
(Visit Bret’s STAA Talent Page).