By: Erika Verellen
Undergraduate Senior and Pennsylvanian, Rachel Boorse, is double majoring in both Corporate Communication and Sport Administration. In a recent interview, Boorse shared her experience as an intern at the Nashville Predators.
Before she began her higher-education journey at Belmont, Boorse always wanted to be a part of the sport industry, and moving to Nashville allowed her to pursue her dreams. Her love for sports began when watching the Philadelphia Phillies with her dad. Reflecting on this part of her life Boorse said, “At first, I didn’t even pay attention to the game on TV and just did homework. But, soon I found myself hooked on the game and cheering for my favorite Phillies players.”
Boorse’s love for sports continued in college and she knew she wanted to create a career out of her passion. As soon as she began undergrad, it was her goal to intern in professional sports, and she soon achieved this after applying for the Nashville Predators. This year is Boorse’s second season interning with the Preds. Last season, she was a Game Night Communication intern under the Pred’s Communication Department and was more involved with game night operations. Boorse’s main duties included assisting media personnel, handling credentials and running the media lounge and press box.
This season Boorse switched roles to the Marketing Department and is now a Digital Content intern. Boorse spends half of her time working on written content for the Preds website and specifically transcribes press conferences, publishes videos and photo galleries and edits a wide-range of website content and updates. The other half of Boorse’s job is report-based, which means she spends her time interviewing players at training camps, practices and morning skates and also transcribes player press conferences.
Most recently, she has co-wrote an article titled, “Top Predators Prospects to Watch Entering Rookie Camp” which describes a handful of prospective NHL players that may be picked to join the Preds for the 2022-23 roster. Boorse also assisted in reporting for another article about forward Filip Forsberg’s Annual Hockey Clinic.
During her last year at the Preds, Boorse had many amazing opportunities, including assisting with the 2022 Stadium Series and Pekka Rinne’s Retirement ceremony and jersey hanging. When Boorse was asked about the Stadium Series, which is an annual event where hockey games are played in American football stadiums, she said that, “It was such a cool experience to learn how a hockey game can be played at a football stadium. I will never forget this event.”
When she took on this role, Boorse had no idea the breadth of events she would be a part of. “When I began my internship, I never thought I would be given these types of opportunities. Not many people get to do that during their first internship,” Boorse said.
The senior also talked about how she is grateful to have wonderful mentors at the Preds, including Nick Barnowski and Katie Cafiero. When specifically asked about how these mentors have helped her in her internship journey, she said, “Nick has given me a lot of strong advice that you don’t learn in class,” and continued by stating that, “Katie has shown me how a woman can succeed in a male-dominated industry.” With both Nick and Katie, as well as her new supervisors Emma and Zach, to guide her through the fast-paced and exciting sport industry, Boorse feels equipped and ready to join the sports world after graduation.
Before our interview ended, Boorse also bragged about both of her departments and said, “Big shout out to both the Corporate Communication and Sport Admin departments for preparing me and teaching me how to be successful in the sport communication world.”