As a kid, University of Delaware alumnus Kevin Linton always envisioned himself working in sports. At Manheim Township High School in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, he served as the student manager for the football, basketball and baseball teams.

Now, Linton finds himself involved with all three sports at a professional level, working as the Director of Business Development for the Wilmington Blue Rocks baseball team, while serving as the Public Address (PA) announcer for UD's football and basketball teams.

When he enrolled at UD, he began working with the athletics department almost immediately during his first year.

"I joke that I had my agent - my mom - reach out on my behalf leading up to my freshman year,"Linton said. "I got a phone call in the middle of the summer from Bob Hannah, who was the baseball coach at Delaware, and he said, 'Come on in and see me when you come on campus.' The first or second day when I was on campus, I walked down to the field house and met with Coach Hannah."

That meeting led to Linton meeting Scott Selheimer, UD's sports information director at the time, who set Linton up with duties in the fall and spring semesters.

The first year, Linton worked the scoreboard and helped in the press box, measuring columns to see how many inches UD sports were getting in the local paper.

From there, he worked as a student manager for Coach Hannah and the baseball team.

"I was able to travel with and meet all the players and be involved with their day-to-day lives during the season in the spring," said Linton. "It was a great experience and truly defined my time at UD."

His work with the UD baseball team eventually led to an internship with the Blue Rocks as an undergrad, and when he graduated, he worked for Seilheimer in sports communications at UD.

During that time, Linton learned from Seilheimer and his assistant, Mike Hirschman, how to report on sports: not as a fan, but as a neutral party.

"Working in sports, you can get wrapped up a little bit in the emotion, but you can't cheer," said Linton. "You have to be the face and the public relations person for the team, so that's what I really valued and learned."

In addition, he learned how to write a news release and tuned up his writing and communication skills.