Persistence & Passion — A Female Perspective on Making it to the Majors
By Laura South
Playing catch in my backyard growing up, my mom always yelled, “Take it easy on her…be careful…don’t throw so hard!” That would only make my dad and I grin, making sure that the snap with each toss was even more audible.
I never wanted to be treated differently because I was a girl. Never thought it was fair that I wasn’t taken seriously for my sports knowledge just because I was a pint-sized Jersey girl. Never wanted to be left out of a baseball debate because of my gender. I loved America’s pastime just as much as the boys did, if not more. Still, I found myself memorizing stats, reciting lineups, studying how to calculate WHIP and ERA — even if I hated math! — not just because I loved the game, but because I felt the need to prove my passion was real. I needed an arsenal ready at any moment because growing up there was always a quiz if you were a girl who “claimed” to love sports.
That drive to prove people wrong helped me to excel in my career. Studying Broadcast Journalism at Boston University shaped my dreams of working in the sports business industry. Thanks to dedicated professors and peers who pushed me to work harder, I started my first internship the summer of my junior year at the very bottom , in unaffiliated independent league baseball.
As an unpaid media relations summer intern, I would help clean the concourse, take out the trash and even pull tarp. But I was also able to interview players, write game notes and even try my hand at color commentary for games. It was that summer I knew I wanted to work on the team-side of sports, that I wanted to disseminate the information from the inside rather than seek it as a member of the media.
On the advice of one of my favorite professors, and with this new goal in mind, I went to the Baseball Winter Meetings and attended their job fair. There I learned my first lesson working in sports — you go to the job, the job does not come to you! And just like our favorite big leaguers, I began my journey through the minor leagues. After I graduated college in 2011, I worked in Boise, Idaho; Tampa, Florida; Des Moines, Iowa and finally Albuquerque, New Mexico before landing a full-time job in the big leagues with the Mets in 2014.
Working in the minor leagues prepared me like no college course ever could. In the minor leagues, no task is too small no matter what your title is, and teamwork is essential with staffs as small as 10 people. Those challenges made me mentally stronger and professionally wiser.
In the span of two years (and a lot of polo shirts and khaki pants), I went from Media Relations intern in short-season Single-A to Public Relations Director at the Triple-A level by the age of 23. Although I was a big fish in a small pond, my ultimate goal was still to make it to the Majors and be closer to home. I jumped at the chance to come back to the East Coast when a former boss let me know a position was open at the Mets. After a long interview process, I found out I was one of two candidates remaining. Finally, my time for a call-up. That offseason, I got the call that…I didn’t get the job.
Networking, staying in touch with former bosses and people I interviewed with, and a little luck paid off, when another position opened a few months later. My resume was still on file, and ultimately was I offered a job and have not left since. I now get to live my big league dream and work in a department with two other strong and intelligent women in sports, with whom I never have to prove myself, because we all know our worth. But if you ask my dad, it was those games of catch, where he never let up, that made me ready for whatever has been thrown at me.
