Celine Halt, a 2020 graduate of Slippery Rock University, was recently promoted to stadium entertainment manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
April 4, 2024
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — There are moments during a Major League Baseball game that make fans cheer, boo or simply say “Wow!” These moments are most often created by players who are paid millions of dollars to hit home runs, yes make jumps and make shots, but sometimes those moments are managed by people who don’t play the game.
For Pittsburgh Pirates games at PNC Park, the man creating those moments is Celine Halt.
“I want fans to walk off the field saying, ‘Wow!'” said Halt, a 2020 graduate of Slippery Rock University with a degree in resort, recreation and hospitality management. “We do everything that’s fun in the ballpark that’s not part of the game of baseball.”
Halt is the stadium entertainment manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates. She organizes pregame and between-innings programming, such as the ceremonial first pitch, the T-shirt cannon and video content that appears on the scoreboard. She oversees more than 60 seasonal employees who provide in-game entertainment, including members of the Bucco Brigade and the people who play the famous characters who participate in the Mrs. T’s Great Pittsburgh Pierogi.
That’s right, Sauerkraut boss Saul is an SRU graduate.
“I love what I do,” said Halt, who started working with the Bucco Brigade in 2017 when she was an SRU student. “Working for the Pirates has been a dream of mine since before I was in college. It’s great to be able to lead the group I was a part of and work to improve and enhance all of our guest experiences. I love interacting with our fans and creating ‘wow’ moments for them.”
A native of Murrysville, Halt grew up a sports fan in Pittsburgh and experienced many of those “wow” moments herself.
“It’s my hometown team, so there’s nothing cooler than saying you work for one of those great sports teams that you grew up watching and going to their games,” Halt said. “I remember going to my first game when I was in maybe third grade and telling my dad I wanted to be one of the guys who shoot tees or get foul balls, but I never knew how to This job didn’t come until I was in Slippery Rock and I had the right connections and I was in the right place at the right time.”
After graduating from Franklin Regional High School, Halt applied to only one college – SRU. The university offered the major he wanted, proximity to home, and opportunities through the University Program Board, a student-run organization that offers a variety of recreational and educational programs on campus.
“SRU gave me all the tools I needed to go into the real world and break into the field I wanted, which was entertainment, recreation and hospitality,” Halt said. “I’ve had so many experiences that have opened doors that have led me to my current career, as well as ones I never dreamed were possible. And being at Slippery Rock, I felt like a name, not a number. I was involved in so many different things on our campus and had the opportunity to be in so many different places.”
Among her many activities, Halt was a member of Alpha Xi Delta at SRU. During the 2017 baseball season, another Greek member working in the Bucco Brigade asked the sororities if anyone was interested in applying.
“My thumbs have never typed so fast asking for an app to be a part of this,” Halt said. “I went through the interview process and started my first game a month later and was in the team for almost three seasons.”
Halt took an internship with Carnival Cruise Line in 2019 as part of the Fun Squad Entertainment Staff. She lived on a cruise ship for four months and planned events for guests, such as trivia, karaoke and parties.
Set to complete her degree at SRU in the spring of 2020 and pursue a career in the cruise line industry, Halt hit a snag in her plan.
“I was one of the COVID graduates,” Halt said. “The entire hospitality industry was shut down.”
She worked full-time as a substitute teacher and took a contract job as a recreation director at an aquatics and sports facility in Massachusetts for eight months before deciding to reapply to the Bucco Brigade in 2022.
During her interview, one of her previous supervisors told her she had a full-time job with the Pirates.
“I went from applying to be on the Bucco Brigade to applying to lead the Bucco Brigade,” Halt said. “I got the job on April 4, 2022, which was a week before opening day. I had a very quick turnaround.”
Since then, Halt has worked full-time with the Pirates. She was promoted from fan engagement coordinator to game day performance coordinator during her first season and, prior to the 2024 season, to stadium entertainment manager.
As he took on more responsibilities, Halt became more involved with areas across the organization, including things like dashboard operations. This included a trip to spring training in Bradenton, Florida to gather video content that will be used throughout the season.
During the season and on game days, Halt is involved in writing the script for the game. This includes targeting the national anthem singer, planning what the game hosts do during inning breaks, and other types of promotions and “fan activation” (think a cannon t-shirt or singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game’). She works at the field level and wears a headset that allows her to communicate with the director and producers in the press box room.
But like the game on the field, her work never follows the same script.
“We’re going to make the Bucco Brigade react to what’s happening in the game and make sure we have surprising and ‘wow’ moments for our fans,” Halt said. “For example, we might find out it’s a kid’s eighth birthday and ask them if they want to hold the ribbon at the finish line for the Pierogi Race.”
Halt works at least 12 hours a day for each of the team’s 81 home games. When the team is on the road, it prepares for the next home game, and during the off-season it revamps systems and processes for the next season. This includes a stopwatch for all Pierogi Racer contenders (40 seconds is the minimum).
Looking back, Halt doesn’t think twice about choosing SRU.
“All the projects and leadership opportunities and things I learned in my classes, they all helped me so much to get me to where I am now,” Halt said. “I made a lot of connections and SRU prepared me well. If I had it to do over again, I would choose Slippery Rock every time.”
Halt is among eight current full-time employees for the Pittsburgh Pirates who graduated from SRU (name, year, title, degree):
- Amanda Riley, ’23, Coordinator, Internal Events (Strategic Communication and Media)
- Kathryn Dumm, ’22, Project Manager (Communication)
- Celine Halt, ’20, Manager, Ballpark Entertainment (Resort, Recreation and Hospitality Management)
- Jody Hummert, ’99, Director of Security Operations (Sports Management)
- Chris Hunter, ’94, PNC Park Operations Vice President (Sports Management)
- Jeff Podobnik, ’89, Vice President of Florida and Dominican Republic Operations (Sports Management)
- Joe Biletdo, ’87, Director, Alumni Affairs, Promotions and Licensing (Sports Management)
- Jim Trdinich, ’86, Director, Player Relations and Team Historian (Communications)
MEDIA CONTACT: Justin Zakal | 724.738.4854 | [email protected]
