Medford’s Jennifer Radigan is keeping busy these days working security screening at Fenway Park with the Boston Red Sox.
How did this former Medford High School softball champion get there? That’s easy, through college connections.
The 22-year-old graduated from UMass-Boston’s first New Balance Sports Leadership and Administration program, which is designed to provide students with coursework in leadership and management. They learn through real-life experience, and have many different tracks from which to choose.
Radigan is well-known in Medford sports circles. She was born and raised in the city, and graduated from Medford High School in 2016. She was a part of the Greater Boston League champion Mustangs softball team. Her brother graduated in 2012. Her mother was also born and raised in Medford, and she too was a Medford high graduate.
In addition to getting her degree, she organized a softball tournament hosted by UMass-Boston to help raise awareness for student-athlete mental health.
The Medford Transcript and Wicked Local Medford caught up with Rattigan for an update since her Mustang playing days.
What attracted you to UMass-Boston?
I graduated from Bunker Hill Community College in spring 2019 with a degree in liberal arts, and then transferred to UMass-Boston in hopes of becoming a kindergarten teacher. I was always interested in UMass-Boston, but toward the end of my senior year of high school I was still unsure of what path I wanted to take. Once I transferred to UMass-Boston, things started to become clearer. I will be graduating from there this August.
Could you explain the UMass-Boston New Balance Sports Leadership program, and what you got out of it?
The New Balance SLA program was truly the best experience I’ve ever had. As I said, I was hoping to become a kindergarten teacher, but I felt that was kind of a backup/safe plan. I knew my heart always belonged to sports.
I transferred into the major once I heard about it and all the avenues it could take me into the world of sports. It was the best decision I made. I’m very blessed with the people I’ve met and the professors I had in this program to make every moment count. Whether it’d be guest speakers, internships or just schoolwork in general, I found a confident part of myself I never knew I had.
What went into the softball tourney that you organized?
As part of this program, students have to take a capstone class (where students apply what they learned to a project), and to create something where they use sport as a social change. My idea was always going to be based around mental health as I am a big advocate, and it finally came together this past semester.
My professors were amazing by getting some incredible guest speakers to come speak to our classes throughout the program. One professor in particular, Ms. Allyce Najimy, invited NESN sportscaster Tom Caron to our class. As we shared our ideas with him, he took time to talk to each of us, and help us advance our projects. As he is a graduate of Saint Michael’s College in Vermont, he told me about the non-profit that he started there called Hope Happens Here, which advocates for student-athletes’ mental health.
I was able to get in touch with the secretary, and came up with the Beacons Mental Health Awareness Tournament for my project. My idea and tournament was planned to be hosted at UMass-Boston, and we partnered up with Hope Happens Here to raise awareness for student-athletes’ mental health. The tournament featured teams from the Little East Conference, and was a one-game elimination tournament. The weekend featured an abundance of research and statistics for student-athletes and others on how to help and start that conversation. I hope to be able to bring this to life soon as we finally return to normal.
How did you get the Red Sox gig, and what is your role there?
My first semester in the SLA Program, my professor Dr. Joseph Cooper, who is the Dr. J. / Keith Motley Endowed chair of sport leadership and administration, invited the managers of Red Sox security Ryan Kozul and Michael Gunning (my bosses) in to talk to us about the position.
I’m a security screener, which is mostly made up of local college students. I screen and bag-check fans that come into Fenway Park for Red Sox games and soon-to-be concerts. I got the job in the 2020 season, and was able to take part in the orientation, but shortly after COVID-19 hit it shut everything down, so I wasn’t able to officially start until this season.
As a screener, I also get first priority of park-wide events. For example, I worked the Pan-Mass Challenge Winter Cycle (spring edition) at Fenway a few weeks ago, and my job was to watch the World Series trophies as fans took pictures with them as they left the event.
What else are you involved with besides the Red Sox?
As mentioned, I love sports. My father, brother and myself try to take trips each summer to different ballparks to catch some games. We’ve been to Wrigley Field to see the Chicago Cubs play, and to Citizens Bank Park to watch the Phillies take on the Sox.
In 2019, my family took a trip to Orlando, and my mother and I were able to catch a National Women’s Soccer League game between the Orlando Pride and the Houston Dash. And I also enjoy going up to Ossipee Lake in New Hampshire with my parents, brother, aunt and uncle, where we spend weekends together up there.
What are your future career plans?
I would love to continue to grow within the Red Sox organization, and be a part of the event planning team at Fenway Park. Some of my best memories have been at Fenway, even going beyond the baseball games. I want to be able to help create those same memories for fans, as well.
