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Sports Announcer

Baseball: Tacoma Rainiers, Tacoma, WA
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Do you want to be a Sports Announcer?

Have you always loved sports? Do you enjoying talking endlessly about the ins and outs of the games you watch? Then come be a sportscaster with Mike Curto, sports announcer for the Tacoma Rainiers in Washington, for a sportscaster VocationVacation® dream job holiday.

Mike Curto can’t remember a time he didn’t want to be a sports announcer. “I always dreamed of being a radio announcer when I was a kid,” he says. “I grew up in the San Francisco bay area listening to the Giants games, and I was one of those kids who would sneak on the radio after bed time and listen to it real quietly to hear what happened in the game without my parents knowing.”

When Mike arrived at the University of California at Berkeley his freshman year, he went to volunteer at the college radio station before he attended his first class. “I wouldn’t have even signed up if they didn’t have a sports department. I did it strictly for the sports” he insists. But it wasn’t until his senior year, when the team made it into the College World Series that Mike knew he was meant to be a minor-league baseball announcer. For the first time ever, he was broadcasting in a Triple-A stadium filled with 20,000 roaring fans. “The College World Series hooked me,” he says. “The bigness of the crowd and the higher level of excitement—from 1,000 or 2,000 people in the stands on a big night in college baseball to 20,000 people there, knowing that people were listening on the radio and I was broadcasting a game that mattered to them.”

Even with his college experience, Mike wasn’t able to get a broadcasting job straight out of school. “It’s really hard to get your first job, even in the lowest possible level of the minor leagues because it’s extremely competitive,” he explains. But rather then give up his dream, Mike did whatever he could to get his foot in the door: He continually worked the phones calling people to get a lead for an opening in some town in the middle of nowhere; he went to baseball winter meetings to network with minor league executives and managers; and when he heard there was a minor league marketing seminar in El Paso, Texas, he made his way down there. “That kind of set the stage for me getting my first job—it was from someone I met there, even though it was a year and half later that I ultimately got the job,” says Mike.

Mike spends three to four hours a day online doing research, reading baseball stories, and making notes of things to talk about for that night’s broadcast. If the game starts at 7:00 P.M., he’ll arrive at the stadium by 4:00 P.M. to set up his notes and broadcast booth, then he’ll go down to talk to the player, managers, and coaches during batting practice to get any information pertinent to that evening’s game. After that, he’s on the air live calling the game as it happens.

“I love being in the game of baseball,” says Mike. “I’ve loved it my whole life. But what I really like on top of the actual broadcasting is being an insider. After every game I go down to the manager’s office and we sit there and rehash it. I’m able to be a part of it even though I have no talent for the game itself. It’s a chance to be a part of the game anyway.”

While on your Sports Announcer VocationVacations® dream job holiday with Mike Curto of the Tacoma Rainiers, activities will include some or all of the following:
  • Study the various nuances and statistics of the players for pre-game preparation
  • Assist in conducting pre- and post-game player interviews
  • Learn all the ins and outs of the press box operations
  • Participate in the broadcast of the game on AM radio (Note: this does not include being on air oneself, however, due to team and FCC regulations)
  • Learn how to weave in personal player stories while announcing the game
  • Understand the different styles of delivery that create a captivating broadcast for the listeners
  • Meet and mingle with the management team and the players
The Radio Sports Broadcaster VocationVacations holiday includes:
  • Two days of one-on-one mentorship in your dream job as a Sports Broadcaster
  • The opportunity to participate in a total of one hour of pre- and post-VocationVacation career coaching from an accredited, affiliated VocationVacations career coach
  • A pocket-size VocationVacations journal so you can document your dream job becoming a reality
  • Light lunches with your mentor

Available: Available during home games

Price: $849 Per Person

Book This Career Mentorship

The Tacoma Rainiers VocationVacation career mentorship is available during all home games during the 2010 season.  Please click here for a downloadable schedule.


Suggested Accommodations

Hotel Murano

Courtyard by Marriott
(Not included in the price of the VocationVacations® holiday)

Other activities and tourist destinations while on your VocationVacations® adventure:
    Reservation, Cancellation and Rescheduling Rules and Conditions:
    Each requested date for a VocationVacation is 100% dependent upon the mentor’s approval of dates.  Each Vocationer is required to sign a liability release stating that they are 18 years or older, 21 years or older if the VocationVacation involves the production or serving of alcohol.  Full payment of the VocationVacation is required to make a reservation. A $100 non-refundable fee is assessed if a VocationVacations experience is cancelled or rescheduled prior to 14-days of the scheduled VocationVacations holiday, based on the approved availability of the mentor to reschedule. A VocationVacation cannot be rescheduled and is non-refundable if cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled VocationVacations holiday. Written notification of cancellation or rescheduling is required in all cases.  Grounded Nomads, LLC dba VocationVacations encourages all customers to acquire travel insurance to cover any unforeseen expenses due to cancellation or rescheduling.