Field of dreams
Sarena Espinoza is winning big as the Colorado Rockies’ community-affairs manager and helping local nonprofits hit the jackpot.
This story appears in the fall 2024 issue of RED Magazine.
Sarena Espinoza is living her dream as the community-affairs manager for the Colorado Rockies. With decades of softball experience and a Sport Management degree from Metropolitan State University of Denver, she’s not only fulfilling her goal of working in sports but actively giving back to the Colorado community.
Espinoza, who grew up in Southern California, credits her parents for her putting her on the path to her dreams.
“My parents didn’t get the opportunity to go to college,” she said. Instead, they gave her opportunities to succeed by paying for lessons, driving her to practices and instilling a strong work ethic.
When Espinoza was a senior in high school, she met MSU Denver softball coach Annie Van Wetzinga. The beloved coach invited Espinoza and her family to Denver to tour the Auraria Campus and offered her a scholarship that day, which Espinoza accepted.
“The opportunity to play softball in college — I just couldn’t pass it up, especially at a competitive school like MSU Denver,” Espinoza said. “What really drew me to the University was the Sport Management program. I really wanted to work in sports, and being in a city that had several professional sports teams … it all just made sense.”
Espinoza enrolled at MSU Denver in fall 2014. She didn’t know anyone in Denver, but she had her teammates. They practiced, ate dinner and lived together.
In addition to her commitment to the team, she was dedicated to her studies. She worked closely with John Kietzmann, associate director of Athletics for Marketing and Promotions/External Relations, and Eric Lansing, director of Athletics Video Production and Broadcasts, to record games, take photos and write game notes.
“They really gave me a full, well-rounded experience working on athletics events when I was in the offseason,” she said. “That gave me exposure to game day duties and what it takes to make it in sports.”
In 2018, serendipity struck. The Colorado Rockies contacted MSU Denver, hoping to find a part-time 50/50 raffle coordinator. Kietzmann recommended Espinoza, who was nearing her graduation date, even though at the time she didn’t know what a 50/50 raffle was. A job offer followed.
“Something just told me I had to trust it and go for it and see what it was about,” she said. “It was baseball. It was my dream. And I said yes.”
Over the months that followed, Espinoza helped establish the 50/50 Raffle, a fundraising program that benefits the Colorado Rockies Foundation and MSU Denver students and programs. MSU Denver volunteers facilitate the raffle at Coors Field during each home game of the season. Whatever fans spend on raffle tickets goes into a jackpot. Each night, half of the jackpot goes to one lucky fan, while the other half is split between the foundation and the University.
The groups of MSU Denver volunteers, consisting of students, faculty members, staff members and their families, get to pick which Athletics program or other campus program they want to support for any given game. The volunteers talk to fans about MSU Denver, what program they’re raising money for and how that money will make an impact.
“It’s gambling with a cause,” Espinoza said. “So people feel really good about that.”
As community-affairs manager, Espinoza also gets to oversee the Rockies Youth Baseball and Softball Camps, which she said is her favorite part of the job. The two-day camps, which sell out in minutes, offer youth athletes the opportunity to play at Coors Field. “We take a lot of pride in giving them that big experience,” she said.
Campers get hats and custom jerseys and are coached by the major league coaching staff. This year, Rockies Youth Softball Camp ran Aug. 5-6 and included appearances from Women’s College World Series athletes Megan Grant and Jocelyn Erickson (the 2024 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year).
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Espinoza, who sits on the MSU Denver Alumni Association Board of Directors, looks back with warmth at her college experience. “The relationships that I built there and still continue to have to this day are something I’ll always remember,” she said.
Now in her sixth season with the Rockies, Espinoza feels a strong sense of confidence, purpose and gratitude.
“Everything I am, and everything I’ve earned and where I’m at in my life now, is because of those decisions and making a leap,” she said. “I’m sitting here looking at Coors Field right now, feeling very grateful.”
