Commonwealth U-Lock Haven Students Gain Industry Experience Working the Little League World Series and MLB Events

Two Commonwealth University-Lock Haven students gained a unique insight into game-day operations by working as event staff at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport this summer.

Sport management students, Hannah Possinger, of East Stroudsburg, and Joshua Torrens, of Pottstown, worked the nearly two-week series, developing their skills in crowd management, customer service and time management.

"It has been a great experience working at the Little League World Series and has been a lot of fun seeing all that goes into managing an event of that size. I am looking forward to working the event again next year as well," said Torrens, who has worked the series for the last two years.

As part of the Little League World Series, each year, the MLB Little League Classic (LLC) is held between two Major League Baseball teams at Muncy Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field in Williamsport. This year, nine sport management students and three faculty members from Commonwealth University worked as ushers and Little League team liaisons at the MLB LLC match-up between the Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals.

The MLB Little League Classic marks the first event in the Commonwealth University sport management program where students from multiple locations were in attendance.

Possinger and Torrens were joined by Lock Haven students Zachary Bumbarger, of Philipsburg; Hannah Ernest, of Herndon; Kevin Magana, of Worcester, Massachusetts; Dominic Scicchitano, of Bellefonte; Ashton Sunday, of Carlisle; and Paige Yingst, of Mount Holly Springs and Bloomsburg student Jason Yeick, of Catawissa.

"All the current and former students were extremely kind and welcomed me with open arms. All the professors and other students supported me and encouraged me to continue to do what I do because they loved seeing me get involved even though I am not at the same campus as them," Yeick said.

For more information on the sport management program at Commonwealth University and to learn about other experiential learning opportunities for students, visit www.lockhaven.edu/sportadmin or contact Peter Campbell at pcampbel@commonwealthu.edu.