On Monday, Nov. 20, “Pizza with the Pros” welcomed Rebecca Sulzbach and Dillon Siddiqi to their 2023 Fall Semester showcase. Both of them are Rowan graduates of the Sports Communication & Media program and are only the second and third Sports CAM graduates to be a part of “Pizza with the Pros.”
Rebecca Sulzbach is currently the Social Media Coordinator for the Philadelphia Phillies. Graduating in 2020, she was a part of Rowan Television Network, The Whit, Rowan Athletics, Rowan University Center for Sports and Social Impact, and much more. She has interned for many minor and professional sports organizations, including the Wilmington Blue Rocks, the Delaware Bluecoats, and the Philadelphia Eagles. She was also recently a Social Media Intern for the Washington Commanders prior to joining the Phillies.
Dillon Siddiqi is currently a Baseball Communications Assistant for the Philadelphia Phillies. Graduating in 2021, he was a part of Rowan Radio, Rowan Television Network, and The Whit while at Rowan, and was also a play-by-play broadcaster for the Wilmington Blue Rocks and Delaware Blue Coats during his senior year. He got his start with the Phillies in 2022 as an intern with ticket services before landing his current full-time position with baseball communications.
Sulzbach graduated from Rowan a year and a half early, utilizing many opportunities to get involved while on campus. Siddiqi attended community college prior to attending Rowan and actually used the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to get involved in the program much more as well. Siddiqi talked about the dream experience he had with the Phillies.
“It went by in a flash, I graduated from Rowan a semester early, December 2021, I had a job right out of college writing, took a step back as an intern for the Phillies, moved up, and told my boss I really wanted to get started in Baseball Communications, and ever since October it’s been a blast,” Siddiqi said.
When questions from the attendees began, they were asked why they chose baseball over any other sport.
“I’m not a big baseball fan, but a very big football fan,” Sulzbach said. “I got offers from the Texans and the Pirates in the MLB and ultimately I’m from the area, the Texans offered me more money than the Phillies initially, so I asked the Phillies for more money and in this industry, you can do that.”
“There’s a game every day, feels like four hours but it goes by in a flash, I love it,” Siddiqi said.
They were also asked about the importance of chemistry with those they are tasked with working with.
“You’re with these people in baseball all day long, it’s important to have chemistry because things can get tense, you wanna have your own ideas, creativity and accept others ideas, chemistry is extremely important,” Sulzbach said.
“You spend more time with your coworkers in this field than you do with your family and friends, if you don’t work well with these people, it won’t go well,” Siddiqi said.
Both Siddiqi and Sulzbach emphasized the importance of networking, not just in terms of having as many connections as possible, but creating strong connections, reaching out, taking risks, and working extremely hard. Qualities and traits like these have been the centerstone that have helped shape the success that is already showing at such a young age in very competitive fields.
“Capitalize on every second, I had six or seven weeks where all I did was go to class, this is your chance to get experience, you can’t go out and make those mistakes in the real world so you want to make those mistakes here, you have to take those advantages this time here goes by in flash,” Siddiqi said.
If you attended this event live, you wouldn’t even be able to tell that both of these guests were only 23 years old and just a few years out of college, they were very wise beyond their years and Professor Neil Hartman had very high praise for them to include them in “Pizza with the Pros.”
Next Monday, Pizza with the Pros welcomes Ashley Dabb, the Head of Operations for Americas Red Knot Communications.
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