Former Interns Enjoy Advancement within Sports Industry

Wisconsin Rapids, WI – January 6, 2012.  An internship in the Northwoods League, or a sports organization in general, is one of the best ways to gain experience and help advance professionally within the industry.  As the calendar turns the page to another year, many former Rafters interns now find themselves in positions with other organizations.  Where are they now, you ask?  Let’s take a look. 

 (Brody Busho, Director of Game Operations, Sioux Falls Stampede)

After spending two summers as an intern for the Northwoods League’s La Crosse Loggers, Brody Busho became a part of Rafters inaugural season start-up efforts in 2010.  Busho spent his time in Wisconsin Rapids as an Operations intern, assisting with various duties around the ballpark each day while also handling Official Scorer duties during all home games. Following his season in Wisconsin Rapids, Brody spent one more summer as an intern for the Sioux Falls Pheasants of the independent baseball league before earning a promotion to a full-time position as Director of Game Operations for the Sioux Falls Stampede.  The Stampede is a member of the United States Hockey League (USHL), a junior hockey league whose ownership group also manages the Pheasants baseball team.  Now a member of the Stampede’s front office, Busho is responsible for all game day operations, in-game promotions, and merchandise for the franchise.  Busho is a graduate of UW-La Crosse with a degree in Sport Management and a minor in Communications.  Originally from Ellendale, Minnesota, he currently resides in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

 (Katie Pietrowiak, Director of Ticket Operations and Merchandise, Beloit Snappers)

After spending the summer of 2011 as the Rafters’ Ticket Sales and Merchandise intern , Katie Pietrowiak was hired in December as the Director of Ticket Operations and Merchandise for the Beloit Snappers, Class A Affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.  In her new position, she will be responsible for overseeing group and season ticket packages as well as stocking the Snappers’ team shop with new apparel and novelty items throughout the year.  Prior to completing her internship with the Rafters, she also completed an internship with the Special Olympics of Wisconsin.  A 2011 graduate of UW-La Crosse with a degree in Sport Management, Pietrowiak is a native of Germantown, Wisconsin and currently resides in Beloit. 

 (Collin Brand, Game Day Production Intern, Minnesota Twins)

Collin Brand spent the 2011 summer as the Rafters’ Video Production intern.  He was responsible for directing and producing video webcasts on northwoodsleague.tv for all 35 regular season home games as well as the 2011 Marshfield Clinic Northwoods League All-Star Game held at Witter Field. His duties also included producing all highlight packages after games for the Rafters website and YouTube as well as many operational tasks around the ballpark during the days.  Collin's hard work paid off, as he was recently hired by the Minnesota Twins as a Game Day Production intern for the 2012 season.  Brand is a 2011 graduate of Southwest Minnesota State University, where he earned a degree in Speech Communication with an emphasis in Radio/TV.  Prior to joining the Rafters he also completed an internship with KSSU Sports, producing both radio and television highlights from his University’s athletic events.  Brand is originally from Springfield, Minnesota and will be relocating to the Twin Cities area to begin his internship in February.

 (JW Cox, Radio Broadcaster, St. Cloud State University Athletics and Leighton Broadcasting)

Although he was not an intern for the Rafters, broadcaster JW Cox, who spent the first two seasons of Rafters Baseball as the radio play-by-play voice, was also hired in the fall by Leighton Broadcasting to be the play-by-play voice for St. Cloud State University (NCAA Division II) football and basketball.  In addition to Huskies athletics, Cox also has duties to broadcast a variety of high school play-by-play.  Leighton Broadcasting’s KNSI 1450 AM is the radio home for well over 100 games with St. Cloud State University and area high school teams.  A native of Southern California, Cox is the only person to have ever witnessed every single game that the Rafters have played since the team’s inception in 2010.  He currently resides in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters are members of the 16-team summer collegiate Northwoods League. The Rafters will play a 70 game schedule with 35 home games in 2012. Reserve your 2012 ticket packages today by calling 715-424-5400, or in person by stopping by the Rafters office at historic Witter Field.  The offseason office hours are Monday through Friday from 9am-5pm. For more information, visit www.raftersbaseball.com.
# # #

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed