Notre Dame boosts Rottenborn

SOUTH BEND -- When Bo Rottenborn was a little boy, he decided he wanted to have some kind of job in the sports world and get paid for it.
Ever since then, the Salem native has been pursuing this dream with the help of family, friends and associates.
Now Rottenborn, a 1999 Salem High and 2003 Notre Dame graduate, has climbed to the highest rung of his career ladder so far by being promoted to assistant sports information director at Notre Dame.
"I pretty much wanted to do this since I was 7," said Rottenborn, who served as a full-time sports information assistant last school year after four years of helping out as a student assistant. "I used to go to a lot of the [Cleveland] Indians' games and take a scorebook and kept score. I always wanted to do this. I was fascinated that you can have a job and get paid for doing something with sports."
Rottenborn will serve as the primary contact for six sports -- women's volleyball, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, and men's lacrosse -- in addition to helping with the day-to-day operation of the office.
"I take care of everything in those six sports," said Rottenborn. "I do the entire media guide and web site and anything related to the six sports, [including] coordinating any media requests, and I keep the official stats."
Five years' experience
Rottenborn brings well-rounded experiences over the past five years to his new post, including summer internships with the Akron Aeros Class AA baseball team and the Indianapolis Colts at their summer training camp.
And he has outstanding academic credentials. He was valedictorian of his Salem High graduation class with a 4.0-plus grade-point average, and graduated summa cum laude from Notre Dame with a 3.8 GPA, majoring in history and political science.
Rottenborn credited his parents, Joe and Cindy Rottenborn, both also Salem graduates, for an early start in his career pursuit and continued support.
"I have to thank them for where I am today because since I was very young my dad and I would have talks about sports and he really cultivated my interest in sports," said Rottenborn.
And even now, " They love to come to visit me [at Notre Dame] and come to different games. They are wonderful. Anything that I am involved with they support it."
Sister influenced decision
Rottenborn said his sister, Mary, a 1992 Salem graduate and valedictorian and a 1996 Notre Dame graduate, influenced his decision to go to Notre Dame.
"She had a positive experience [at Notre Dame]," said Rottenborn, noting that Mary now teaches third grade at Hilltop Elementary School in Canfield.
Rottenborn believes he has benefited from playing two sports in high school -- four years of tennis under coach Joe Judge and three years of golf for coaches Bucky Dye and Jeff Oyster.
"Being able to play two different sports in high school set me up with this split mindset of dealing with a lot of sports," said Rottenborn.
Rottenborn also honed his statistical skills as the Salem boys basketball statistician for four years under coaches Kevin Longanecker and Bert Stellers, and was strongly influenced by George Spack, a teacher and basketball coach at Salem.
"I think [Spack] is probably the best teacher I had. I learned so much from him and he influenced me a great deal academically," said Rottenborn, who also values his time with WSOM radio in Salem.
"I kept stats for them and did a little on-the-air work and that got me more interested," said Rottenborn, who worked with broadcasters Gary Goddard and Todd Bell.
"They were certainly a big part of the formation of my abilities and understanding for this whole field," said Rottenborn, who also learned from Gary Housteau, another WSOM broadcaster.
kovach@vindy.com