[the following is a paper written by Adrien Tapia who served as a summer intern and who wrtes about his summer experience as a requirement for his work at the University of Florida]

In this sleepy small community called North Adams, located in the far western corner of Massachusetts, still suffering from the loss of its industrial base in the mid and late eighties, city officials and business leaders perform a delicate balancing act between reconciling its industrial past with an emerging economy based on education, the arts and culture. In 1999, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary art Museum, an international museum of contemporary art, funded in part by a state grant in the amount of $35,000,000.00, opened its doors at the site of the former factory that up until the time it closed employed over four thousand city residents.

City and museum planners searched for a way to unify its blue collar population and arts oriented folks who were beginning to populate the city’s growing arts based community. They found the answer in baseball. The North Adams SteepleCats, a summer collegiate baseball team and member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, was founded in 2002 by John Watterson of Keene, New Hampshire, and later in 2004 purchased by a group of regional and national leaders who were active on the museum board and who saw the opportunity to use baseball to unify the community. John DeRosa, a local attorney who serves on the museum board and who is the volunteer President of the SteepleCats likes to tell it to folks this way “baseball”, he says,”is the common denominator that cuts across the economic, social and generational divides and brings our community together”.

This summer, I was privileged to be granted an internship with the North Adams SteepleCats., and I learned firsthand that using baseball as a unifying community principle, in a changing social, economic and cultural environment, really works. In this paper, I will make some initial and general observations about summer collegiate baseball, both in general and as pertinent in North Adams, and then discuss my internship duties and accomplishments, analyzing the obstacles I encountered (some common to all summer collegiate programs and others unique to the situation in North Adams), and finally discuss the solutions I used to overcome these obstacles as I carried out my duties this summer. You will note that my comments in this paper also incorporate some factual information that I learned about the SteepleCats and other baseball organizations, as well principles that can be applied towards running any small business.

First, North Adams is a small market to have a baseball team of the caliber of an NECBL team. The NECBL is a premiere summer collegiate baseball league that brings the best college baseball players from across America to compete in twelve cities in six New England states. Of the twelve NECBL cities North Adams is the smallest city (being also the smallest city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts), both in population and as a regional center of commerce. Among the other NECBL cities are Newport, Rhode Island, a popular seaport resort city filled with tourists, Montpelier, Vermont, the capital of the State of Vermont and a center of government and commerce, Keene, New Hampshire, a regional shopping and service oriented city three times the population of North Adams and New Bedford, Massachusetts, an old seaport and fishing community with over one hundred thousand full time residents. Despite its unique position as the smallest market, North Adams has earned a stellar reputation for running a world class organization and is recognized as one of the best run organizations in the NECBL. However, operating a summer collegiate baseball team in a small market requires greater community participation than in a larger marker, as well as community partnerships and synergies of purpose among broad based community support groups and organizations.

Second, summer collegiate baseball has more than one mission and objective. The mission is simple but it is twofold: (i) to field the best collegiate summer baseball team in America, with each team’s focus being to provide its players an environment in which they can nurture and develop their baseball skills and, by working hard on the field and regularly facing superb competition, take their game to the next level and (ii) to provide its fans the best summer family entertainment available anywhere. Achieving both objectives requires innovation thinking and an ability to balance sometimes competing interests.

Finally, to operate a summer collegiate baseball team is to operate a complicated small business that requires business acumen and skill, coupled with a sophisticated knowledge of America’s favorite game. For example, you cannot successfully run a summer collegiate baseball team without knowledge of accounting, marketing, and public relations, nor can you run a summer collegiate baseball team without knowledge of baseball’s fundamentals, including the principles of hitting and pitching and the use of baseball statistics in playing the game.

When I arrived in North Adams in May of this year, I had never operated a business although I did have some knowledge of how to organize a baseball team. My assignment was to serve as COO (Chief Operating Officer) of the SteepleCats – a lot of responsibility with the extravagant salary of a $1,000 stipend to cover personal expenses. I was assisted by three interns who were previously assigned specific operational duties before we arrived in North Adams. We were the full time SteepleCats summer staff.

The North Adams team is legally structured as a not for profit organization, has one paid part time position - the general manager who puts the team together and deals generally with the baseball matters - and relies almost exclusively on volunteers to run the organization. While the organization maintains a list of volunteer that work from year to year, there is not one volunteer who assumes full responsibility for the day to day operations of the team during the two months plus baseball season. So although I had a great starting point with lots of volunteers and good folks to work with, it was my responsibility to make the whole organization work and to direct and coordinate everyone’s efforts. In early meetings with the general manager and volunteer president, I made a list of my areas of responsibilities. In reviewing those notes retrospectively, I find the list was good but that as events unfolded I learned to be flexible and move in different directions than I might have originally anticipated. The list quickly became a moving target and I learned – sometimes the hard way - that this is not unique to running a baseball team but quite common to operating any small business.

The list of my original duties as recounted in my notes was as follows: (i) manage the day-to-day operations of this complex business, (ii) assist and coordinate all aspects of the organization, including meeting with local businesses and leadership sponsors to design their events, (iii) design, organize and promote individual and group ticket sales, (iv) market the team to local schools and not for profit agencies by scheduling player appearance and events at external venues, (v) create and write scripts and protocols for pre-game and between inning entertainment with family and youth orientation, (vi) plan and execute pre-game ceremonies such as special awards and live National Anthem singers, (vii) act as liaison with major sponsors in planning sponsored night, and assist sponsor in integrating its on-field presentation with businesses’ product and image, (viii) assume responsibility for complete and integrated marketing program, including, the development of promotional material, print advertising, website content and weekly e-newsletter, (ix) oversee field operations, including on-field advertising, game day scripts, field organization such as gate organization and other field protocols, (x) oversee volunteers and other staff, including concessions and merchandise operations, and (xi) be prepared to deal with unexpected problems and matters that arise, both on and off the field, in connection with the corporation’s business. This seemed to be a daunting task, but as I learned it was just a starting point. Inevitably, I was always forced to think outside the box and find new solutions to unanticipated problems.

I have noted above that North Adams is the smallest market in the NECBL. As such, I encountered obstacles and problems that do not exist in larger markets like our competitors in Newport, Keene, Vermont and New Bedford. First, in North Adams there is a limited and receding business community and a dwindling population with the result that there are fewer businesses to target for sponsorships and advertising, and fewer prospective fans. In fact, a review of the SteepleCats financial reports for the years 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 substantiates this trend with slight declines in sponsorship money and game attendance each year, yet costs have stayed constant. In this environment and to meet the SteepleCats budget and maintain the integrity of our program at first class levels, I oversaw and implemented the following solutions. First, I oversaw and helped organize a fundraising campaign to raise private donations from high end donors and by soliciting Booster Club memberships from average fans. The results were that as an organization, the SteepleCats raised in excess of $25,000.00 - an amount which compensated for lower revenues generated from the business community. This campaign for private money is unique among NECBL teams to the SteepleCats and required organizational techniques and numerous hours of community outreach. It also required me to supervise a cadre of volunteers, even in the simplest tasks of sealing envelopes and licking stamps.

Second, it was helpful that the SteepleCat brand widely identifies baseball in the Northern Berkshires as the common denominator that brings the community together. In that regard, I also worked to develop community partnerships with other community and not for profit organizations, including the Northern Berkshire YMCA – that hired twelve of our players as camp counselors and sold $400.00 worth of special youth game tickets , the Northern Berkshire Coalition – a collection of neighborhood groups that help youth stay out of trouble, and Little League and Babe Ruth League organization in each of the North Berkshire communities – that came to our games and were specially recognized. I learned that building community partnerships, not only helps to generate money, but also continues to brand the organization as essential to the overall social health of the community. This extra effort reinforced the commitment of our business sponsors and helped solidify our financial base.

I also noted that summer collegiate baseball has more than one mission and objective. First, our organization is committed to fielding the best collegiate summer baseball team in America, and providing our players an environment in which they can nurture and develop their baseball skills and, by working hard on the field and regularly facing superb competition, take their game to the next level. Second, our organization is also committed to provide our fans the best summer family entertainment available anywhere. While these two worthy goals do not appear to be inconsistent, accomplishing both goals presented organizational challenges and required good planning. For example, as part of the between inning entertainment, we organized family oriented games that involved kids – such as “dizzy bat”, “what’s in the box”,” potato sack race”, and “crazy pants”. I knew that we needed to present fun and attention grabbing games but I also learned that we needed to complete them so that the baseball game would proceed in a timely and professional fashion. And if I missed the mark, I learned quickly form the GM and umpire the shortcoming of my work. The same requirements pertained to playing music before the game, between innings and when each player approached the plate. The game needed to be carefully choreographed, but again, we needed to carefully coordinate timing and execution to insure that the baseball game proceeded in a timely and professional matter. To do this required many hours of rehearsal and a lot of staff supervision.

Finally, I noted that to operate a summer collegiate baseball team is to operate a complicated small business that requires business acumen and skill, coupled with a sophisticated knowledge of America’s favorite game. I also noted that although I understood baseball fundamentals, I had never run a business. It is not surprising that this lack of experience was an enormous challenge. As a result, I spent many hours learning the fundamentals of running a business. This meant that I needed to (i) understand how to run a merchandise-souvenir booth (order merchandise and determine the mark ups, etc) and how to run a concession stand (order the food and determine the mark ups, etc), (ii) learn the basic principles of accounting so that at the end of the year the books balanced and we kept our budget, (iii) develop a protocol for meeting the cash requirements of the gate and the souvenir and food concessions, and (iv) effectively utilize volunteers and oversee daily operations. Because of my lack of business experience, I compensated for this deficiency by asking questions when I needed to, listening to more seasoned volunteers, taking advantage of advice from a helpful GM and a knowledgeable volunteer President, and when the unexpected happened, relying on the age old advice: use common sense.

The SteepleCat baseball team had a successful season. In a twelve team league, the team finished second in the Western Division and advanced, with home field advantage, to the first playoff round. Although, the team lost in the first round and did not win the championship trophy, the SteepleCats organization accomplished its goals. The SteepleCat players played baseball in an environment in which they were able to nurture and develop their baseball skills, worked hard on the field and regularly faced superb competition. Each player took his game the next level and will go back to college a more mature and sophisticated baseball player. As Kevin Fuqua, a SteepleCat player from LaSalle University said “I’m a college baseball pitcher. The competition was terrific. I feel I was given the opportunity to improve my skills as a player. I know I am a better baseball player because of my summer ball experience with the SteepleCats.” As an organization, the SteepleCats provided its fans the best summer family entertainment available anywhere. As the season ended, I overheard a fan comment “This was the best summer we ever had at Joe Wolfe Field. Everything was terrific. I can’t wait until next summer.”

As a business administration major specializing in sports management, I believe this internship met my academic goals and expectations. I was fortunate to focus on business administration issues, in the context of real case scenarios that needed instant actions from me. I was particularly fortunate to have this experience in the sports management context. I also had the privilege of working for a first class organization led by volunteers who were hands on and always available for guidance and information. I was assigned real responsibility and put in situations, albeit with supervision, that required independent thinking and out of the box solutions. I learned many basic principles of business administration but as important learned how to use the talents and resources I did have to get the job done. I would recommend that future UF students participate in this internship program.