Emma Hudson is no stranger to high-pressure game days. Working in the Athletics department, she has emceed many Spartan basketball games, and has even done a few Greenville Drive baseball games.
But hosting her first hockey games for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits tested Hudson’s coolness under pressure. Hockey, as any fan knows, is an intense sport, with not only opposing teams getting into fights but also fans. Hudson’s job as emcee was to keep the crowd engaged during breaks in the action and narrate activities during timeouts and intermission.
“It was a good experience, because you have to be on your toes,” Hudson says. “You have to be prepared in advance and ready to go with the flow.”
The Greenville arena was much louder than any other venue where Hudson had hosted, but having worked for the Swamp Rabbits for two seasons as game day staff, she was prepared for the noise. Her usual responsibilities at home games include helping with marketing activities, such as raffles and promotions, and making sure Stomper the mascot is where he needs to be. “No two days are the same,” she says.
Hudson’s opportunity to emcee arose when the team’s usual host, sports radio personality Rob Brown, was unavailable. Brown has been a mentor to Hudson, and gave her confidence that she was up to the task.
“Basically, I have to ad lib everything,” she says. “I’ve got an earpiece in my ear that’s like, ‘OK, you’re on, you’re good to go.’ And then I just say what I feel is right in that moment.”
Hudson admits she still gets nervous at the start of any game she’s hosting, even when it’s the Spartans. But once she gets going, the feeling disappears. “I like that you have to think on the fly,” she says. “That used to intimidate me when I was younger. But you know in sports that something’s going to happen that you’ve never seen before, so you have to be able to think on your feet and adapt.”
Hudson dreams of one day becoming an athletics director like Matt Martin at Upstate, who has been a mentor and role model. She also credits Lenny Mathis, senior associate athletics director, and Ryan Frye, associate director of sports communication, for helping her learn new skills and put them into practice.
But for now, she’s busy absorbing all she can about sports marketing and communication, with the goal of working in those fields after graduation. It’s important to her that fans have fun and enjoy games, so she approaches every event with energy and enthusiasm.
“I’m very blessed that I look forward to going to work every day and like what I do,” she says. “I always say, whether it’s someone’s first game or their fiftieth, I try to make it memorable for them so that way they want to keep coming back.”
