Emily Roberge: Cape Cod League: More Than an Internship

Emily Roberge, shown at Boston College, served as the journalism intern for the Orleans Firebirds during the summer of 2025. (Courtesy of Emily Roberge)

 

Growing up going to Orleans baseball games at Eldredge Park in the summer and seeing the famous George in the Firebirds’ costume on the Hill for most of my childhood, my path to becoming an intern in the summer of 2025 was long-awaited.

Raised in Wayland, Massachusetts, I didn’t go too far for college. In fact, I traveled only 9.8 miles to Boston College. Right when I stepped on campus, I knew I wanted to combine my love for writing and sports, so I joined Boston College’s newspaper, The Heights, and soon declared a Communication major and Journalism minor. Climbing the ranks in the paper, I became the associate sports editor in what was one of the most exciting times in BC sports history. I knew I wanted to transfer these journalistic skills to an internship in sports media.

For the Cape Cod Baseball League, most, if not all, of the internships are filled by late fall or very early winter. Applicants must send a résumé or cover letter via email to the team president or submit it directly to the team’s website for review.

Faith Clark, a sophomore at Providence College majoring in marketing and communications, applied for the internship on the team’s website, where she then had an interview with Firebirds President Bob O’Donnell soon after. Clark had always heard about the Cape League and was looking for real-world experience when she submitted her application as a game day operations intern. During her conversation with O’Donnell, Clark mentioned that she had previous social media and editing experience in high school, so she was then recommended to join the Firebirds’ six-intern media team. Joining six other interns on the media team, each person had their own role, whether as a graphic designer, camera operator, or content editor. As a video editor, Clark explains that she had an “unforgettable experience” and will take the skills learned in the internship to the work force.

However, it wasn’t always promised, or even possible, that I could become an intern within the Cape Cod Baseball League.

After missing the deadline for the internship application last fall and scrambling with what I wanted to do the next summer, I took a chance and still submitted my résumé and cover letter to every team in the league a few months after the deadline closed. As expected, I was met with a lot of emails telling me that all positions were filled and to check in again next summer. Yet one promising email ended up in my inbox late one Monday night in January, from the Firebirds’ president Bob O’Donnell.

O’Donnell detailed that his former journalism intern position was now open. Less than 30 minutes later, he was interviewing me over Zoom. I was telling him about my favorite Orleans staples, such as Land Ho and Nauset Farms, which I had been going to my whole life, in hopes that he could see how committed I was to the role.

A few hours later, I sent O’Donnell an email accepting the position for the coming summer, as I called my parents in excitement. Less than a mile from my house in Orleans, interning for the Firebirds was a homecoming for me.

Serving as the journalism intern for the Firebirds, I wrote an article for every game and also produced feature stories on Orleans players. Whether it was an article about the lessons that all-star Ethan Foley learned while working at Whole Foods during Tommy John surgery recovery or the pregame conch shell tradition for the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa players, I loved humanizing the athletes’ stories beyond just the box score.

There is something so unique about being an intern for the CCBL. While we all may be competing for the same positions for a career in sports down the road, we were all able to share a similar passion and admiration for the game of baseball. From baseball operations to media to data analytics to the bullpen, all of the interns found a place within the day-to-day operations of the CCBL.

While a 40-game schedule can seem daunting at first thought, especially when most interns have to get to the game at least two hours before first pitch, it is one of the most rewarding experiences. In fact, I wish it lasted longer. Soon after the internship began, I spent all day and every day with my fellow interns, whether we were on the clock or not. Within this time, the friendships flourish in such a short amount of time, yet also have to be put on pause when the calendar hits August and everyone packs up. This feeling only intensifies for many of the interns who are far from home and who rely on the other interns as a makeshift family.

The summer of 2025, former Firebirds intern Carly Klein found herself almost six hours away from her college, the University of Delaware, and her hometown in New Jersey. In describing her experience living in a house with three other female interns, Klein describes it as being “nice and a built-in group of friends that made the first day of the internship a little less scary.” From dinners together to beach days to ice cream visits at Orleans’ Ice Cream Cafe, Klein met some of her best friends in the internship that she still talks to every day. In fact, she “couldn’t have asked for a better first internship” and loved it so much that she is returning to the Cape for a second summer.

Providence College sophomore Bobby McDonough has a similar intern experience. Serving as the senior game-day operations intern for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, McDonough describes what he will miss most about the internship: “Just the people. It’s only about 10 weeks, but you build a lot of really close relationships, and it becomes like a family.” McDonough’s ties to the CCBL began almost five years ago when his family began hosting one or two players a year. In 2025 his family hosted Texas Christian’s Jack Bell and Texas A&M’s Chris Hacopian. McDonough explains how he is “able to interact with a lot more people and that “everyone is very easy to be friends with.” Having the perspective of both a host family and an intern, McDonough believes that has only strengthened his CCBL internship experience.

In fact, McDonough has an interesting perspective on his CCBL internship experience. His role as the senior game day operations intern is different from anything he does as an economics major in college. When asked why he chose the role, he mentioned that while “the internship really doesn’t help me in what I want to do,” it instead will provide him with “contacts, people skills, and experience in the sports world” to better understand the business side of the sports world. McDonough is also considering a law degree postgraduate. During his two years in Yarmouth-Dennis, McDonough has garnered a few unique experiences that other interns haven’t.

In 2025 McDonough had the opportunity to run one of the most hectic yet exciting days of the CCBL season – the all-star game. With over 6,137 fans visiting Red Wilson Field for the 2025 game, it was nothing short of any baseball fan’s delight.

McDonough recalls the all-star game as his favorite experience as an intern because “you get to see some of the best guys in the country, interact with the most fans, and make sure every fan’s experience is the best possible.” It was no easy feat, as McDonough logged 23 miles walking around Red Wilson Field that Saturday, making sure everything was running smoothly. Nonetheless, his experience goes to show that for CCBL interns, some of the most chaotic times are the most rewarding ones that stay with them years later.

For Clark, her favorite moment as an intern was attending Fenway Day in the middle of June. Growing up a little less than 30 minutes from the historic ballpark, Clark remembers going to games with her family and sitting in the stands cheering on her beloved Red Sox. Now the roles were reversed as she was able to go on the field in what would become a “life-changing experience” for her that many could not say they have done before. In that moment, she realized how special the internship truly was for her and her peers. It is something that she says she will never forget and will cherish even if she doesn’t end up working in baseball.

Klein remembers her favorite part of the internship being something that often gets overlooked—the fans and volunteers. While Klein grew the Firebirds’ social-media accounts by over 1,000 followers and generated almost 1 million impressions, that is not what she values most about her internship as the production manager for Orleans in 2025. The passion of the Firebirds fans and volunteers was “something that she had never seen before, especially for traditional, hometown baseball.” Klein still thinks about the beauty of it all. Whether it was fans leaving their chairs near Eldredge Park to save themselves a spot the night before a game or the 50/50 volunteers bringing the same energy and passion every night, something about the Cape Cod Baseball League feels wonderfully different. Klein believes that the CCBL “encapsulates the traditional and romantic side of baseball,” highlighting that no matter what changes may come in the sport, there will always be a sense of nostalgia that the league fulfills for both fans and interns.

Looking back on my own experiences and those of my peers, it goes without saying just how impactful a CCBL internship is for young adults. Trying to figure out what we want to do in the world is an intimidating thing for college-age students, but an internship with the CCBL reaffirms that there is something for everyone, whether in sports or not. What is so meaningful and yet heartbreaking about the experience is that it feels over just as soon as it starts. Heading to the ballpark in the peak of summer didn’t feel like a chore, but rather something that I woke up excited to do. I was captivated by the talents of my peers and motivated by their work ethic every day. Everyone had something to offer and something to be proud of. For all of us, it isn’t just another internship or simply something to stuff on the résumé, but it is a life-changing experience that will bring new lessons, new skills, and, most importantly, new friendships with individuals from all over the country that we otherwise wouldn’t have met.

And I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

EMILY ROBERGE is studying communication and journalism at Boston College. Raised a little bit outside of Boston during the Tom Brady dynasty, she considers herself a spoiled sports fan. Growing up, she attended Orleans Firebirds games with her family every summer where she met avid Firebirds fan George in his bird costume. A little over 15 years later, she was the journalism intern for the Firebirds in the summer of 2025. She loves going to Red Sox games and utilizes the “Student 9s” discount whenever she can. She currently serves as the associate sports editor for an independent student-run newspaper, The Heights, where she has covered a national championship lacrosse win and hopes to see a BC hockey Beanpot win soon.