It wasn鈥檛 a breakaway attempt or an empty net, but Paige Bednorz is now living her dream in 琉璃神社 after deking through some adversity for the better.
Over the last few years, we鈥檝e seen more and more women working in sports, something that is long overdue as sports is usually a male-dominated industry. But Bednorz has been one of the women helping change as the 琉璃神社 Rockets鈥� communications and social media director since the start of the 2018-19 season.
鈥淭hat was always my dream, to work in hockey,鈥� said Bednorz, who also had the dream of a career in radio.
After graduating high school in Edmonton in 2011, Bednorz went to Dodge City Community College in Kansas on a golf scholarship starting with a sports management major, but changed her path after the first semester. In 2013, she graduated college with her Broadcasting and Mass Communications associates degree.
Radio wasn鈥檛 happening for Bednorz, who tried for three and a half years everywhere, but just couldn鈥檛 get her foot in the door. It was during that time that social media started to really take off, as more people were joining sites, creating accounts, and sharing videos with their friends. Because of that, Bednorz started to weigh her options, and found out that the Rockets offer internships for their communications positions. She had a friend that had completed the internship with the team and had family living in town, so she decided to take her chance.
In late 2016, she emailed the Rockets communications person at the time, Kevin Parnell, who replied saying they were full at the time but could use an intern for January 2017. She accepted and worked that month for the team before being hired to a local marketing agency. While at the agency, Bednorz said she learned the ropes of social media, marketing and more without having to go back to school.
Before the 2018 season, she saw the position had opened for the Rockets to be the full time communications representative. Bednorz applied and was hired, and has been with the team since.
鈥淭hey just went to the Memorial Cup, and I was so ecstatic to join the team,鈥� said Bednorz.
For the last five seasons, including going through a cut-off season and a shortened season, Bednorz has been the person who puts together the team鈥檚 news releases and notes as well as growing the team鈥檚 social media accounts.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 an off day, sometimes I鈥檓 just creating content around the team to give people a better idea of the personalities [on the team], and other days it鈥檚 doing press releases and getting things ready for the game and doing the rosters and the lineups,鈥� said Bednorz. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a variety of different things just because it is really two positions pushed into one with the communications and the content side.鈥�
Creating content is something every team and organization has had to do for a long time now, but it鈥檚 the most prevalent it鈥檚 ever been with social media and the ability to have news at our fingertips the second it breaks, or to show our friends a video whenever we want to.
鈥淭his position didn鈥檛 exist when I graduated from high school in 2011,鈥� said Bednorz. 鈥淚f I had to choose between radio and this right now, I would definitely choose this cause at that time, it was only radio and television.鈥�
The social media shift changes everyday, and Bednorz said she really noticed a change during the pandemic.
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 been a massive shift in things since the pandemic started just because how much TikTok has taken off,鈥� said Bednorz. 鈥淭he way I edit videos is not the way I did it when I started this job.鈥�
Social media is about engaging with fans and giving them an inside look at the players and what goes on around the team, which Bednorz executes with ease, especially with the team鈥檚 TikTok account. She makes videos with the players regularly, from asking them random questions, to having them mic鈥檇 up at school visits, to grocery store challenges. Since late November, three of the team鈥檚 TikTok鈥檚 have 鈥榞one viral鈥� with more than a million views each.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 cool because it gives people an idea of what our players personalities are like outside of wearing a hockey helmet and chasing a puck on the ice,鈥� said Bednorz. 鈥淥n the flip side of it, I went to school in the States, and I was away from home, and I鈥檓 incredibly guilty of not texting my mom sometimes and I knew that these guys probably do the same thing. I鈥檝e heard from parents that it鈥檚 nice to see them pop up on social media answering a question or interacting with kids at a school visit because they didn鈥檛 hear from them that day.鈥�
With the number of women in sports growing immensely over the last few years, Bednorz is happy to pave the way, along with many others around the Western Hockey League.
鈥淚t鈥檚 cool being able to be in this position, and other people can see that there鈥檚 a lot of women around the league and it鈥檚 not as rare as what it used to be,鈥� said Bednorz. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 necessarily feel like a minority in the WHL just because there are so many women on a variety of different sides of it.鈥�
Bednorz went on to mention Portland鈥檚 Operations Vice President Lisa Hollenbeck, Moose Jaw鈥檚 Coaching Assistant and Sales and Marketing Manager Olivia Howe, Tri-City鈥檚 Communications and Public Relations Director Mary Gates, and Victoria鈥檚 Senior Manager of Hockey Operations and Player Personnel Dara Festinger just to name a few around the league.
鈥淲e all know each other and I think it鈥檚 so cool that the next generation that鈥檚 coming up can see us in these roles,鈥� said Bednorz. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 cool there鈥檚 a lot more people visible in these roles and that you can see they鈥檙e out there and that there is a place for you.鈥�
Bednorz knows she went through a lot, and had to change her direction a little to achieve her dreams, but she knows to enjoy the moment everyday now that she鈥檚 here.
鈥淚t took me a while to get to where I am and I honestly never thought I was going to get the chance to work in hockey,鈥� said Bednorz. 鈥淚鈥檓 so incredibly thankful for the opportunity the Hamilton family and the Rockets have given me to live out that dream.鈥�
