To kick off the final month of Pizza With the Pros for the school year, the Rowan University Center for Sports Communication and Social Impact welcomed Bryan Sklover, director of marketing and entertainment for the Trenton Ironhawks.

His first taste of the sports communication and media program came during a recent Blue Coats game, where he was able to see a group of students in action, helping with game presentation and game production. Sklover noted how special it is to see what the students were capable of while still in college.

“You’re students, and you’re young professionals looking to grow your career,” Sklover said. “So if the platform that you’re on is more receiving of mistakes, and more in a landscape when you can learn from your mistakes, it’s going to make you feel more comfortable with making a mistake and learning from it.”

In his role, Sklover is part of the reason why hockey made its triumphant return to Trenton as part of the ECHL. With the location, hockey fans are fortunate enough to have four NHL teams within two hours. However, Sklover and his team wanted to give fans a new team to support. As the season begins to heat up, Sklover says he looks forward to bringing hockey to the area, and he’s excited for what’s to come.

“We’re just excited for announcing our affiliate, announcing our first player, and first coach, you know,” Sklover said. “Putting the brand together was a real exciting process, something that you’re hoping people will like, and I’m glad that I can share it.”

With a new team and brand, Sklover references another team he built up, the Savannah Ghost Pirates. There, he and his team developed a logo and name to go with it. He further explained that with the area of the team, they knew the entertainment value had to be high. When it comes to the Ironhawks, they wanted to create something that would make the fan experience enjoyable and one that would compare to those on the NHL level.

“The other side is letting fans create their own rituals and create their own things that they want to put together,” Sklover said.

The next step in the process is releasing the season schedule and naming an affiliation for the team. Sklover shared that they were now down to two teams, but it’s a delicate situation due to homegrown rivalries and the possibility of hockey fans being upset. The one thing he did reveal, however, was that the affiliation will be neither the Philadelphia Flyers nor the New Jersey Devils.

Over the last four years, Sklover has climbed the ranks of game presentation. While speaking to students, he offered them insight into what actually goes into game presentation and what the preparation is like. In addition to the fun things that are planned for in-game entertainment, Sklover also has to ensure sponsorship fulfillment is up to par, and they are satisfying all elements. He also explained how important it is to keep certain entertainment aspects of the game on schedule for each game, so fans know when to expect them.

Before ending his visit with students, he wanted to leave them with a piece of advice to help enhance their sports careers: be open to learning new things.

“Flexibility and willingness to continue to learn, knowing the sport or loving the sport, is not enough to succeed in working in sports,” Sklover said. “Just because you have a passion for hockey doesn’t mean that there’s a career in hockey for you.”

Sklover wanted to remind students that many part-time and full-time positions in sports require you to put on different hats and create different things. It’s important to learn and build on new skills.