This past fall semester more than 25 Catawba College students were on hand for a historic night in Kannapolis as the Chicago White Sox single A affiliate, the Kannapolis Intimidators, revealed their new name, the Cannon Ballers, in front of thousands of fans who celebrated the new era of minor league baseball.
After the name and mascot were revealed, fans were welcome to enjoy a street festival with food trucks, inflatables for kids, circus performers, music and fireworks. Team officials said the new identity embodies the circus-like atmosphere of a Minor League Baseball game while paying homage to the foundations of Kannapolis as the town the Cannon Family built.
Catawba sophomore Aryn Dorr shared her experience, “The mascot reveal opened my eyes and confirmed that Sport Management is exactly what I want to do in the future! Vince {Assistant General Manager} was very welcoming, organized, and a respected leader that we can look up to.”
Junior Josh Coman, who played an integral role in the mascot reveal, stated, “What an honor to be on stage in the Gem Theater when the community learned the new name, it was surreal. It felt like baseball was back in Kannapolis, the only negative was having to wait until April for the first game.”
Catawba Sport Management students played a number of roles in assisting the Cannon Ballers with their reveal celebration in downtown Kannapolis from merchandise sales, modeling uniforms, mascots presentation, guest relations, crowd control, give-a-ways, etc.
Cannon Ballers Assistant General Manager Vince Marcucci praised Catawba’s involvement, “The students were absolutely amazing. We couldn’t have done it with them. They were truly the engine behind the scenes that kept the event moving and flowing throughout the entire night.”
Sport Management professor, Dr. Duane Aagaard, was beaming with pride in discussing the event, “The Cannon Ballers front office staff is first class; I was so proud of our students who gave up their Wednesday night to be a part of experiencing their education.”
Aagaard added that the evening was enhanced when Emily Goddard, a Catawba College 2019 Sport Management graduate, provided a personalized business card to her former professor as she recently accepted a full time position with the organization.
The re-branding of a new name and mascot coincides with the franchise moving into their new state-of-the-art 4,900 seat ballpark referred to as the “Sports and Entertainment Venue.” The Cannon Ballers will play their first home game in the new venue on Thursday April 16th, 2020 vs. the West Virginia Power.
