PPL Park
By McKenna Maertens ('11)
For my internship, I’m living in Philadelphia and working for the Philadelphia Union, an expansion Major League Soccer team that’s playing its first season this year. My summer has been a nonstop whirlwind of new experiences. I’m living in a big city for the first time, working for a brand new professional team that just opened a brand new stadium. It’s been busy, to say the least.
Our offices and stadium are located in Chester, PA, just south of the city on the Delaware River. The new stadium, PPL Park, sits by the water in the shadow of the Commodore Barry Bridge, making for quite a unique setting for soccer. We’ve had four games there so far since the grand opening on June 27, keeping us constantly on the go. Today we have a game against soccer legend Manchester United at Lincoln Financial Field, where the Philadelphia Eagles play. Needless to say, it’s been very exciting.
I’m working in the Communications department, meaning I deal with all of our media coverage and the working press who cover our games. One of my main responsibilities is to ensure that everyone who needs a credential for each game receives one, along with making sure the press box is set up and ready to go on game days. I also work press conferences and player appearances as needed. I enjoy getting to interact with the players, because they are all really nice guys.
A typical game day for me consists of arriving at the stadium four hours before kickoff and setting up the press box with seating cards, game notes, extension cords, and anything else we need to make sure the media will be able to work during the game. After that, I set up credential pick-up by the media entrance and hand out credentials to the media as they arrive. That lasts until halftime, and then I’m usually free to enjoy the second half of the game on my own. After the game, I grab a digital recorder and head to the locker rooms to record quotes from the players and coaches. Then I transcribe them and distribute them to the media so that the quotes can be used in articles written about the game.
Working for a new team and helping to open a new stadium has been a great experience. I’ve gotten to see and be a part of things that I could never have imagined before. The growth and excitement around this team in the Philadelphia area has been tremendous, and it will only continue to grow in the future. Before this opportunity, I never really considered working in soccer, but now I think I would absolutely love it. Go Union!
