Like any other job shadow, Matt Swanson arrived at Ian Henry’s office ready to work on the morning of Jan. 9.
But unlike most other offices, Henry’s sits just two doors down from an ice rink. An not just any ice rink, but the rink at the ShoWare center, the new home of the Seattle Thunderbirds, a Western Hockey League franchise.
And Henry may work in an office, but as the director of public and media relations for a minor league hockey team, it’s definitely not your typical job shadow.
After all, in very few other offices does one get to yell down the hall “Do we know where the blimp is yet?”
“It’s like an office environment, but it’s a little different,” Swanson said about halfway through his 12-hour day following and helping Henry prepare the arena for the evening’s game against the Tri-City Americans. “It just feels different than if you were sitting in a random office somewhere doing accounting.”
Swanson, 18, is a senior at Kentlake High School and is the first local student to take advantage of the new professional sports team as a way to complete the job-shadow requirement for graduation.
Swanson, a fan of the Thunderbirds even before they moved to Kent from the Key Arena in Seattle, said a job in the sports industry interested him and the T-Birds seemed like a good way to see for sure.
“I’ve been wanting to get into sports somehow,” he said. “Since they were moving down here to Kent … I figured I’d come down and see if they had a job shadow (program).”
Swanson contacted Henry and set up the day, despite not really knowing exactly what he did.
On Friday, during what Henry called a typical game day, Swanson sat in on meetings with the team’s president and general manager, helped write and edit the night’s public address scripts, planned out the evening’s promotions, updated the programs and the scouting reports and met with the entire promotions crew, all before the game even started.
At game time, Swanson sat with Henry in the press box, watching the game from a new perspective before collecting from the media in attendance the ballots naming the game’s three stars and putting together a press release on the game.
With overtime and a shoot-out at the game, Swanson easily put in his eight-hour requirement and then some.
“You work in sports, it’s going to be a long day,” Henry told him with a shrug.
Henry also told Swanson it was a lot of work and took a lot of energy, but sports was definitely a fun field in which to work.
“Every day is completely different,” he said. “Today it’s ‘How do we present Thomas Hickey and the other players in the best light?’ Tomorrow, it’s the trade deadline.”
But because it is such a competitive field, Henry said a local team could help give those interested a leg up on the competition.
“It’s a fun environment to work in, but a lot of people want to work in sports so you have to know what goes on behind the scenes,” he said.
Though his favorite part was watching the game from the press box, Swanson said he was surprised to learn how much of what Henry did was seen by fans, like the video promotions and scripts and other giveaways.
With a few days to think about it, Swanson said he enjoyed his job shadow and working with Henry behind the scenes encouraged him to pursue the field further.
“After doing it, I understand more what they really do,” Swanson said. “It seems a lot more possible now.”
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