UWO RTF alumna leads off with Red Sox media team less than year from graduation

Amber Gately '23 reports to work at Fenway Park, an iconic Major League Baseball stadium in Boston, Massachusetts.

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh alumna Amber Gately grew up a Boston Red Sox fan, often going to Fenway Park with her family, all decked out in the team's colors.

With the Red Sox home opener next week, the 2023 UW Oshkosh graduate will begin a professional role at the historic baseball park as a member of the team's broadcast production crew.

The Red Sox are considered one of the most-storied franchises in American sports, with nine World Series titles and 14 American League pennants.

Gately credits the experiential learning she received as a UWO radio TV film major for much of her success. Right after graduation she landed a job with Harvard Athletics Broadcasting Team as a production assistant.

For the Red Sox, she will be, in broadcast parlance, "a control room utility," meaning that on any given game day, she could be operating the camera, controlling replay, video playback, handle graphics or even operate the famous Green Monster, the 37-foot-high left field wall that is home to the manual scoreboard.

Gately said having produced a 30-minute TV show as an undergraduate taught her to problem solve in her new roles.

UW Oshkosh instructor Justine Stokes remembers Gately's commitment to her show, an award-winning talk show that Gately created, produced and hosted. The talk show aired on Titan TV.

"This wasn't a class; students can pitch to Titan TV to produce their own shows outside the curriculum," said Stokes, who is the Titan TV general manager and teaches in the RTF department. "It is an opportunity for ambitious, high-performing students like Amber to take chances creatively without the restrictions of assignments. I think Amber really found her voice with her show: learning how to take her unique humor and perspective and turn it into a fun experience for everyone involved."

Stokes is delighted to hear about Gately's achievements after graduation.

"This is someone who moved half-way across the country-from Boston to Oshkosh-to get her RTF education," Stokes said. "When the world shut down her freshman year for Covid she didn't flinch - she just kept going. She was a part of a small group of Titan TV students who met the challenges of the pandemic and by far succeeded anyone's expectations. For her to head back home to Boston and immediately find work first with Harvard University and now with the Red Sox is just a testament to Amber's abilities and drive. I have no doubt before long she will be adding the Patriots, Celtics and Bruins to her resume."

We spent some time with Gately, who now lives in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and talked about why she chose to come to UW Oshkosh sight unseen and why she has to jokingly tell her parents to calm down when they talk about her working for the Boston Red Sox.

When you were a little kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

It's kind of cliched, but I wanted to be a pop star. You know when you're a kid, you think, I can sing, but I didn't have the skills or the energy for it. I wanted to be like Vanessa Hudgens from "High School Musical," but looking back now, I just wanted to be creative, and I've definitely found how to use my creativity through my work.

What made you decide to come to UW Oshkosh?

I was born in Florida, then we moved to California, then Michigan, and we moved to Massachusetts when I was in third grade. I loved living in different states and I wanted a fifth state for college and that posed a challenge economically. My mom had a list of stipulations with No. 1, that college had to be affordable. Well, when I applied to UWO I got the Titan National Scholar award that gave me in-state tuition even though I was coming from out of state so that took care of the affordable part. And I applied to UW Oshkosh because of the RTF program. I made the decision to come to UWO before we actually visited in person. I just knew how good the RTF program is. Atthe time I thought I wanted to do film. I loved that in the RTF program I could do multiple things at once and have a chance to try everything to make sure that that was really what I loved, and it turned out it wasn't film. I tried some of the film stuff, and I realized that I'm very much a fast-paced live-environment kind of person.

Tell us about a memorable experience during your time at UW Oshkosh.

One of the biggest things I remember from (RTF instructor and Titan TV general manager) Justine was when she said I was funny and in that teeny, tiniest of remarks I still remember to this day how it gave me the confidence to host an entire TV show.

What was that show called?

It's a talk show called Anything But Average because my initials are AVG - my middle name is Vanessa, and AVG stands for "average" in baseball, and I would like to say, "I'm anything but average." (The show, competing with productions from 10 states, was awarded an Achievement Award in the Talk Show category - equivalent to second place - at the 2023 Midwest Media Fest.)

Think back to your freshman self, what advice would you give that first-year student or students thinking about going into radio TV film?

Try everything. I'm definitely like an umbrella person. I did a shift at the radio station for a semester because it's part of the program. I knew it wasn't for me because I wasn't able to see things visually, but I had fun. I'd say to the students to try it all. Not many people have been in a control room where you get to press the buttons and see what happens when you do certain things. So definitely any time that you can get to experience anything is a great way to just learn. Try every single thing possible, because you never know what experience is going to be the one that leads you to your future career.

How has your education at UW Oshkosh helped with what you do now?

What I learned at UW Oshkosh has pretty much everything to do with what I do now in my job- from knowing how things work in the control room, knowing each and every position. And just like everything that has to do with working with tech, I learned how to fix things and problem-solve, be confident in my space and know that I have a voice and the background knowledge of how this works.

Were you a baseball fan before this new gig?

Oh yes, I have photos of 4-year-old me and a little Red Sox hat and jersey. We'd fly out from California to come to games. So Fenway's home for me.

How did your parents take the news that you are working for the Red Sox?

My parents are trying so hard not to bring up, "My daughter works for the Red Sox!" all the time. They try to tone it down, but they do bring it up when they can, when it's appropriate and not overbearing, but yeah, they are proud.

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