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Why Grit Matters—and How it Helps This LeagueApps Team Member Get Work Done

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By Melissa Wickes
December 5, 2022
3 min

There’s no crying in baseball—and Katie Ringel takes that to heart in her role at LeagueApps. It’s an important one, too. In fact, she’s responsible for managing our relationship with Major League Baseball (NBD). Not to mention, she’s on four LeagueApps committees. How does she manage to do all of that, you may be wondering? The answer is grit.

Shouting out team members is one of the most important parts of being on the LeagueApps team—because we help youth sports teams run and we operate like one ourselves. Our shoutouts are based on how well our teammates are upholding our team values, which spell out SPORTSDOG: Sportsmanship, Passion, Openness, Results, Team, Student of the Game, Difference Maker, Own Your Role, and… you guessed it: Grit.

As the year comes to an end, we’re looking forward to the 2022 SPORTSDOG Awards—a Grammy-esque award ceremony held every January to recognize members of our team for the value-driven work they accomplished the year prior. 

Before this year’s award ceremony happens though, we’d be remiss to not recognize the winner of the 2021 SPORTSDOG Award for Grit: Katie Ringel.

Grit is about doing what it takes—especially when the ball doesn’t bounce our way. It’s our change to prove resolve, courage, and perseverance. 

We do what it takes — especially when the ball doesn’t bounce our way. It’s our chance to prove resolve, courage, and perseverance.

SPORTSDOG Award Winner: Katie Ringel

Katie Ringel is a Senior Manager of Customer Success—and if there’s one thing we take extremely seriously at LeagueApps it’s the customer experience.  Here’s what LeagueApps president Jeremy Goldberg has to say about the work Katie does.

“Katie is someone that has been leading us in so many different ways with Major League Baseball partnership. To use a baseball analogy when it comes to grit, she does all the little things it takes to win. She’s not afraid when things go sideways in the game or maybe don’t go her way. She doesn’t quit, she finds a way to overcome obstacles to be successful. And when you actually understand all the things it takes to do the work that she does and lead her team in so many different ways, you’ll understand why grit is what has allowed us to dramatically expand our partnership and make an impact in communities everywhere.”

If something goes wrong or needs some fine tuning—whether it involves an external or internal person—Katie is there to fix it. Time and time again she demonstrates grit by putting her head down and finding a solution no matter what the issue is. 

She’s part of many LeagueApps committees dedicated to making LeagueApps a better place, including the Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee, the All Hands Committee, the FundPlay Committee, and the Internal Comms Committee. When she’s not dedicating time to a committee, she’s attending philanthropic events with LeagueApps teammates like Cycle for Survival or coordinating dedicated Peloton rides and happy hours. She even hosts our weekly All Hands meeting for all 141 members of LeagueApps—every Thursday. Whatever needs to be done to make LeagueApps a better place, Katie’s on it. That’s grit. 

To say Katie puts 110% into everything she does would be an understatement. Don’t just take it from me, though. Here’s what some other LeagueApps team members have to say about Katie:

“Grit is what Katie is made of. Always on the front line, always ready,” says Kion Kasianenko.

“She is willing to dive deep into her work to overcome all sorts of obstacles, and make sure we deliver for our MLB partners,” says Jared Cooper. 

“She puts her head down and crushes objectives for all our MLB partners, and has been awesome to see work in action,” says Paul Cusick.

Why Our Team Values Matter

Having annual SPORTSDOG Awards—as well as weekly shoutouts that highlight a team value—allows us to hold ourselves accountable as members of the LeagueApps team and truly live our company values each and every day we go to work. Stay tuned for next month when we announce the winners of the 2022 SPORTSDOG Awards. 

Do you think you embody the value of Grit as well as Katie does? Be sure to take a look at our open positions to find your fit at LeagueApps.