(August 1, 2012) ECHL veteran Ray Schmitt is staying within the league, but will be broadcasting games for a different team next season. An STAA client, Schmitt has accepted the position of Director of Broadcasting and Media with the Elmira Jackals. He replaces Eric Levine, who is joining the AHL’s Springfield Falcons.
Schmitt moves to Elmira from the Greenville Road Warriors. The Jackals job was one of the first for which Schmitt applied after joining STAA on June 1st.
“Having an STAA Talent Page link to send to the Jackals was a huge help in the application process,” Schmitt says. “To have all of my information in one place and not have to worry about the size of attached files in an email made everything so much easier.”
STAA notified it’s Premier members of the Jackals opening on June 19th, but Schmitt already knew about it through his friendship with Levine. “I reached out to Elmira’s GM Matt Hufnagel to see if there was an opportunity. We had a couple of phone conversations, and then I went to Las Vegas to meet Matt at the annual league meetings. A few weeks later he called to offer the position.”
A 2007 graduate of Penn State University, Schmitt has spent the past five years in the ECHL. He joined the Johnstown Chiefs immediately following graduation, and then stayed with the franchise when it relocated to Greenville in 2010.
“Elmira is a great opportunity for me because of the people within the organization and the community that supports the team,” says Schmitt. “The staff that I’m joining and the fans who pack First Arena each game makes it a fun, exciting and rewarding environment to work in.”
(Visit Ray’s STAA Talent Page).