In a league of her own

Since graduating from UD’s fitness management program seven years ago, Ashley Forlini, CHS ’00, has found major league career success and job satisfaction.

Where? In minor league baseball.

“I love everything about the league and my job and the whole atmosphere here at the ballpark,” says Forlini, assistant general manager of the Reading (Pa.) Phillies, a Double-A affiliate of the Philadelphia team. “The mascots, the between-inning entertainment, the school programs, the carnival atmosphere, the creative marketing ideas—it’s all great. I wear a lot of hats in this job, and every day is different and fun. I’m not sure I’d ever be able to have a ‘normal’ job after this experience.”

Forlini majored in physical education at UD, concentrating in fitness management, with a minor in nutrition. She also was a varsity athlete, competing in javelin and pole vault on the track and field team. As the time came for her to arrange a senior-year internship, she says, the possible openings in fitness centers, hospitals and rehabilitation programs didn’t seem to be the right fit for her interests.

“I was a college athlete, I always had a passion for sports, and I realized that I just didn’t want to let that go,” she says. “Reading is my hometown, the Phillies are my team, and I worked at the park when I was a teenager. I went to my advisers and professors and told them what I wanted to do, and they were extremely helpful.”

Forlini approached the Reading Phillies’ general manager, reminding him of her summer job as a “diamond girl,” greeting fans and distributing give-away items, while she had been in high school. She finished her UD class work in January 2000 and worked as an intern in Reading from then until her graduation in May. She returned to the team to finish the season and was offered a full-time job in the fall.

Since then, Forlini has worked her way up through several jobs with the team, including director of fan development and director of group sales and entertainment (“I just kept getting longer titles,” she says), until her promotion to assistant general manager last year. At the end of the 2006 season, she was named Rawlings Woman Executive of the Year, one of minor league baseball’s leading awards.

“Her excellence, commitment and impact to the Reading Phillies, to the local community and to the baseball industry make her a most deserving winner of this award,” Eastern League President Joe McEachard said in presenting the Rawlings award to Forlini.

As assistant general manager, Forlini says she has relatively little involvement with the team’s players. Instead, her focus is on the fans. She oversees group ticket sales, special promotions, marketing, community outreach programs and charities and—always—ideas for new amenities to draw fans to the ballpark. First Energy Stadium in Reading has picnic areas that come complete with TV sets on the tables, special arrangements for catered birthday and corporate parties, a left-field deck for postgame celebrations, carnival-type games and concessions and even a heated swimming pool in right field.
All these extras bring fans in and keep them coming back, Forlini says.

“I love going to Philadelphia to see a game, but when people ask me if I want to move up to the major leagues, I say, ‘No way,’” she says. “Minor league baseball is an affordable place where you can have a great family experience and see the stars of tomorrow. We always respect the game—that’s why everybody is here—but by including a lot of other fun stuff for kids and families, we’re building future baseball fans.”

Forlini says she also enjoys the cooperative spirit among minor league teams, which she thinks is different from the competitive nature of most businesses. If she has an idea for a special promotion, she says, she can call her counterparts in Wilmington, Del., or Corpus Christi, Texas, and ask them to share their experiences and advice.

“We all have the same focus,” she says, “which is to keep things fresh and to constantly create a better fan experience.”
From Opening Day through postseason play, Forlini works 12-15 hours a day when the team is at home and only slightly less when the Phillies are on the road. In the off-season, her job still is full time, but the hours are more regular and feature weekends off.

“Even when I work a 15-hour day, it’s not 15 hours behind a desk,” she says. “I’m out on the field, in the stands, interacting with fans and connecting with the community. By spring, I can’t wait for the games to start, but by August, I’m ready to sit in the office for awhile and come up with plans and new ideas for next year.”

With so much of her job involving marketing, Forlini says she wishes she had taken more than a handful of business courses at UD. But, she says, she enjoyed her science-oriented courses and especially appreciates the required internship.

“For me, that internship was the best part of the program. To have that built into the curriculum is a terrific idea,” she says. “It really helped me find my way. And here I am!”

—Ann Manser, AS ’73