(March 5, 2012) Swimming with the sharks usually requires a steel cage in order to emerge from the water in safety. Fortunately for STAA client Andy Towne, the kind of sharks he’ll be working with this summer are the kind that take a bite out of their prey on the baseball diamond instead of the ocean. Towne has been hired to handle play-by-play and media relations for the Wilmington Sharks.
The Sharks are one of the premier organizations in college baseball’s summer Coastal Plain League and the 2009 Organization of the Year.
Towne is eager to watch some of the nation’s top college players before they turn pro. “I’m looking forward to working with college players that are still looking to get themselves better – guys who aren’t in the minors yet. They might have more incentive to go out and work harder.”
Towne first saw the opening in an email from STAA. The Sharks encouraged applicants to rush their applications, but Towne wasn’t able to submit his demo and resume as quickly as he would have preferred but he says he “kind of got lucky there. I decided to send my stuff in and see what happened.”
The plan worked out for Towne, and he advises other job seekers to do the same.
“Try and do something different with the application. That probably helped me out. Also, definitely don’t give up even if you think a position may be filled. Go ahead and send the application if they haven’t made the announcement that someone has been hired.”
Towne hopes to emerge from his swim with the Sharks with the experience necessary to move up in his next job.
“The last two people who have held this job have done pretty well so I feel pretty good about that.”
College experiences gave Towne the kind of skills that qualified him for the Sharks position. In addition to play-by-play and hosting at Northeastern University’s WRBB radio, Towne also participated in a media relations co-op with the Boston Red Sox.
Immediately after graduating from Northeastern University in May, Towne will be bound for the already familiar North Carolina.
“I have a family in the Carolina area so it will be nice to be near them. I know the area and though it was good place to get that first job in broadcasting. I’m certainly looking forward to a summer working in baseball.”
(Visit Andy’s STAA Talent Page).