Sydney Herz fell in love with the game of baseball at an early age.
Herz said her twin brother, Luke, began playing the sport 鈥渇rom the time he could pick up a bat.鈥� Although she competed primarily as a gymnast throughout her early athletic career, Herz quickly developed an appreciation for baseball by attending each of his games.
鈥淲hile other siblings were running around and not really paying attention, I was taking the score for book and doing GameChanger by the time I was six,鈥� Herz said. 鈥淚 really enjoyed everything that went into the game, like the plays, and I soon figured out all the aspects that made a really good player and a really good game. I didn't really have that same experience with any other sport.鈥�
Herz, a third-year sport and entertainment management student and popular social media influencer, has seen her passion for baseball continue into the present day.
She now uses social media accounts to showcase her daily life as a college student and spread her love of the sport to others.
Herz鈥檚 first interactions with social media came when she was seven years old. Her childhood friend鈥檚 family members had a YouTube channel where they posted daily vlogs in which she was frequently featured. Within four years, Herz was making her own content.
鈥淏y the time I was 11, I created my own channel. I got my own Musical.ly (account) at the time, which was so fun,鈥� Herz said. 鈥淚 had my own YouTube channel, which I did singing and gymnastics, and then some videos with my twin brother.鈥�
Herz continued competing in gymnastics through her teenage years but realized during the COVID-19 pandemic that being a college gymnast was no longer an option. She said college gymnasts at the time opted to use additional 麻豆小蝌蚪传媒s of eligibility granted to them by the NCAA, which limited the number of opportunities for Herz to enroll at a college with an athletic scholarship.
Herz said this decision forced her to pivot towards dedicating more of her time to baseball, and the University of South Carolina provided her an opportunity to do so.
鈥淚 had been doing gymnastics since I was three, and I was in the gym 25 hours a week. I just didn鈥檛 really know who I was outside of gymnastics,鈥� Herz said. 鈥淚 was like, 鈥業鈥檓 passionate about baseball. I鈥檓 passionate about sports. And I鈥檓 at an SEC school with a lot of school spirit.鈥欌��
Herz has been involved in multiple baseball-related activities since arriving at 麻豆小蝌蚪传媒鈥檚 campus. During her first year, she was a student manager for the South Carolina baseball team. While with the team, she assisted with setting up the field before practices, organizing uniforms and operating its pitch communication software.
She more recently served as an intern at P27 Baseball Academy, a Lexington, South Carolina-based baseball academy. The organization allows high school-aged and post-high school graduate students from around the world train to take their skills to the next level while also attending classes.
Tucker Frawley, P27 Baseball Academy鈥檚 analytics and catching coach, said Herz鈥檚 positive attitude was noticeable as soon as she began her internship this past fall.
鈥淎ll the good teams that I鈥檝e been a part of, regardless of position or label, I think just bringing positive energy to the field every day is super important,鈥� Frawley said. 鈥淵ou can learn skills and acquire things within the game 鈥� but it鈥檚 hard to fake that positive energy showing up to the park 鈥� I guess, wanting to be there.鈥�
Herz said she embodied that trait at the academy when she was placed in a content creation position and contributed to its photography, videography and social media efforts.
鈥淚 realized that I really enjoy promoting people on social media that aren鈥檛 myself,鈥� Herz said. 鈥淗aving ideas and being creative and showcasing people that the general public don鈥檛 know about, I think is really cool.鈥�
Herz said baseball scouting is an area she would enjoy having a career in one day because she is 鈥渃ompletely intrigued with player development.鈥� Her commitment to learning more about the intricacies of scouting is another way she has shown her dedication to the sport, Frawley said.
鈥淪he would ask a lot of questions just about what the coaches are seeing or why we鈥檙e doing certain things in practice. 鈥淚t was pretty clear from the questions that she would ask that she was very locked in and focused,鈥� Frawley said. 鈥淪he was present in the environment rather than maybe thinking about school or work that night.鈥�
This past spring, she also became a sports influencer for Bold South Sports, a sports marketing agency that aims to help athletes develop personal brands.
Bold South Sports founder and CEO Tyler Jones said he suggested in the early days of their partnership that she make a podcast after gauging her career interests.
鈥淚 could tell that Sydney鈥檚 a big personality. She could talk to anybody. There鈥檚 never a dull moment in the conversation,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 kind of perfect for a podcast, so that鈥檚 one of the first things I sort of pitched to her. And she jumped on it and said, 鈥楾his is exactly what we鈥檇 like to do.鈥欌��
Herz co-hosts episodes of 鈥淭he GamechangeHerz Podcast,鈥� where she and her brother Luke interview social media and sports personalities. The podcast provides her with another avenue to tell stories about sports figures and their off-field interests, Herz said.
鈥淭here were kids at P27 that had such passions outside of baseball,鈥� Herz said. 鈥淭he reason I liked the podcast so much is because I got to know players and coaches and people in the industry that no one really knew about, and I got to know them outside of their sport.鈥�
Jones added that it allows Herz to showcase her talents and discuss important topics in the sports world, such as mental health.
鈥淪ydney is really brave to talk about her experiences with mental health and taking away the stigma,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淚 know that she鈥檚 talked to other athletes, female athletes and male athletes, about that, and I think that鈥檚 one of the takeaways from her podcast that maybe people don鈥檛 join or listen to originally to hear that stuff, but they come away learning more than just about baseball.鈥�
Before she jumpstarts her career after graduating from South Carolina next spring, Herz said she also wants to be transparent about her life as a college student and woman entering the sports industry.
鈥淭here are a lot of people that are like, 鈥極h, my gosh, I don鈥檛 know what school I want to go to. I don鈥檛 know what college looks like 鈥� especially as a girl. And what if I want to work in sports?鈥欌�� Herz said. 鈥淚 figure if I can show them what it could look like and support them and answer some of their questions, I鈥檓 doing what my purpose is on my platform."