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Alumna Sidnee Berch '20 discusses her journey from a Beacons volleyball standout to a digital marketing coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Sports have always been a big part of alumna Sidnee Berch’s ’20 life. Formerly a student-athlete, she said being recruited to UMass Boston women’s volleyball team was what initially drew her to the university. 

“They had a winning culture. They were competitive. They always said, ‘We’re a D3 program, but we train you and treat you like D1,’” said Berch, a three-time captain, whose team won three Little East Conferences. “It’s definitely an experience I’ll never forget.” 

Berch said she knew her athletic career probably would not surpass collegiate volleyball, but she wasn’t quite ready to give up her passion for sports altogether. Although she graduated from UMass Boston in 2020, just a year after the university introduced the esteemed Sport Leadership and Administration Program to its academic lineup, Berch saw this as an opportunity to forge her own academic path instead. 

“Being able to create my own path to the sports industry was something that I saw possible with UMass Boston,” said Berch, who majored in management and minored in communications, with the goal of pursuing a marketing or management role for a major league sports team. 

While finishing out her senior year remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic, Berch, who originally hails from South Florida, landed a sports marketing and operations internship with the Jacksonville Iceman, a mid-level professional ice hockey league. After eight months, she was offered a position with the Atlanta Gladiators, a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Georgia. She said these opportunities gave her the type of hands-on experience that she might not have otherwise had. 

“The thing with minor league sports is you're not pigeon-holed into one thing. You get to do so many different aspects,” said Berch, who spent nearly two years with the team, first as a community outreach coordinator before pivoting to do marketing and merchandising. “I think it's a great starting point for people trying to get into the industry. I got acquainted with the industry and figured out myself exactly what I wanted to do.” 

Now, after lending her marketing skills and expertise to two minor league teams, Berch has moved on to the big leagues—literally.  

In June 2023, she became a digital marketing coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals, a national football league team based in Ohio. In this role, Berch manages the team’s email marketing, notifications, and general engagement. She also creates outreach initiatives to keep fans informed about upcoming games, housekeeping notes, and other game-related news. 

For someone whose life has revolved around sports since she first picked up a volleyball at age 11, Berch said she feels a connection with the fans and their investment in each game.

“You feel just as excited when there’s a big win, or you feel that loss. Being with the NFL, it’s just magnified,” said Berch. “Everyone is repping the orange and black. This team means so much to them, and I think it's cool to be a little part in that. I think sports are able to give people hope and something to look forward to. There are crazy, crazy things going on in the world, and this is a lot of people’s escape,” said Berch, adding that she loves camaraderie that comes from working for a sports team. “The staff here is absolutely amazing, and I think everyone has that same passion. We’re fans first and we’re focused on the community, and everything else kind of falls into place.”  

And while it might seem as though everything fell into place for Berch fairly easily, she said she had to encounter a lot of closed doors before she received the one opportunity that would change the trajectory of her career. 

“If there’s something you want to do, don’t get discouraged by someone telling you, ‘No.’ I think I’m a testament to that, as a 2020 graduate,” said Berch, adding that she applied to over 350 jobs before she got that one “yes” she needed to jumpstart her career. “You have to have people around you that are keeping you motivated and lifting you up. You’re going to be told ‘no’ a thousand times. But if it's something that you truly believe you're capable of doing and it's the path for you, it will happen.”