Nearly 200 times a year, across 45 states, an ensemble of performers dance, sing, and flip like they’re in a Broadway show. But instead of being on a stage and under a spotlight, this spectacle unfolds on a baseball diamond during a nine-inning game.
It shouldn’t work, but it does for the Savannah Bananas.
The Bananas, an exhibition baseball team akin to basketball’s Harlem Globetrotters, are a worldwide phenomenon. They boast 35 million digital followers and millions more in-person fans who go, well, bananas for the players who effortlessly combine the worlds of performance and sport.
Founded in 2016, the team started small, playing for curious crowds in Savannah’s 5,000-seat Grayson Stadium and filling a spot in the wood-bat collegiate summer Coastal Plain League. But by 2023, they were touring the world with an impressive following of fans. In 2026, with a record-breaking 3 million tickets sold, their own six-team league—the Banana Ball Championship League—and even a cruise, the team has peeled away any doubt about its success.
They’re not done yet, though. The Bananas are still in the first inning and look to their expanding behind-the-scenes team to keep the momentum going.
Each member of the Bananas family, whether stationed at home or on the road with one of the newer teams in the league, loves what they do. That family includes four UGA alumni, all based in Savannah.
“The merging of the Bulldogs and the Bananas is really cool,” says Bananas group media relations specialist Sam Bauman. “Whether you’re in Savannah or Athens, there’s such a great fan base, and there’s people that come from that base that are fired up and really talented. Josh, Elsa, Maren, and Carley—these are people who are foundational in helping us grow.”
First Pitch Strike
Savannah native Elsa Paulick BSEd ’24 embraced Banana Ball while she was still in high school.
“I walked into that stadium, and I could just feel the music and the vibration and adrenaline in my heart, and I was like, ‘This is exactly where I want to be,’” she says.
Paulick found that belonging in something as simple as serving all-you-can-eat options for the team’s earliest fans—hot dogs, hamburgers, and chocolate-dipped bananas. When she graduated from high school in 2020, it was impossible to leave the Bananas family. So she didn’t.
While studying sport management in the Mary Frances Early College of Education, Paulick spent her weekends with the team. She transitioned to roles in catering and merchandise, traveled with the Bananas by car or by plane, and still made it back in time for class.
When she graduated, Paulick wanted to get back the same feeling she had as a newcomer. Getting a job as a first impression specialist, then, fit like a glove. It’s her job to invest in impactful game moments with each fan. She’s greeting or assisting them one-on-one, jumping over to ticketing or merchandise stands, or answering questions outside of games.
“I get to give those first moments I had to new people. I thrive in this environment where I’m able to be caring, different, fun, hungry, and constantly growing,” she says. “Going to UGA gave me that mentality to wake up every morning and attack the day and go at it.”
Paulick aims to ensure every fan has a blast. And now there are a lot more people to do that with than when she first started six years ago.
“It’s absolutely insane to see what we’ve been able to take on the road,” she says. “I cannot wait to see where we go next because I know it’s going to be bigger and with even more fans.”
On the Mic
Josh Talevski AB ’23 always loved the people behind sports just as much as the game itself. Grady College’s Carmical Sports Media Institute helped him become one of them.
He credits his high school digital media teacher for not only encouraging his sports reporting and enthusiasm at UGA, but also pointing him toward the Savannah Bananas.
Talevski applied to be a video intern for the summer after his junior year. He didn’t get it.
Instead, the Bananas offered him what would be a life-changing internship on the broadcast team.
“My time with the Bananas really resonated with me,” he says. “A lot of little different things came together to set me on this path, which is really special.”
Talevski provided color commentary during broadcasts while closely learning the players, the routines, and their moves. And more soon arrived.
With new teams and new players (but the same unique elements key for a Bananas game) created for this league—starting with The Party Animals in 2020—a full-time statistician was needed. Talevski got the call.
His role has since expanded beyond the broadcast booth. Talevski continues to provide game commentary on digital broadcasts worldwide, while also tracking game and player statistics. He’s in the dugout, on the field, and sometimes even in the plaza, hyping up fans.
“This place really allows us to be ourselves,” he says. “We get to share our joys and our passions with fans, and the fact that we care so much about the stats and the players really rubs off on them. It’s really cool to see that and hear that.”
Fan Favorite
For those new to the experience, it’s easy to gawk at fans’ Bananas tattoos, the senior women gettin’ down with the Banana Nanas dance team, or the babies in banana costumes whose parents are hoping their little ones will be ceremoniously lifted skyward, Lion King-style, by a player as “Circle of Life” plays over the speakers.
Carley Moore AB ’24 invests in the quieter, but still impactful moments. Whether it’s helping a bright-eyed kid get their favorite player’s jersey or making a family feel like VIPs, Moore offers a Bananas experience that fans will never forget.
“Our main goal, throughout our whole entire operation, is serving our fans,” says Moore, the Bananas’ merchandise coordinator. “We want to give them the best possible experience that we can. I am a huge extrovert, so I love being around people, and the fans are who I get my energy from.”
Moore grew up in a quiet spot outside of Watkinsville and always wanted to be surrounded by people. Today, working among 100 fellow Bananas employees and millions of fans, she’s living that dream.
While at Grady, then-faculty member Tom Cullen MA ’18, MFA ’21 saw Moore’s extroverted take on life and pointed her in the direction of the Bananas for a merchandise internship.
That internship involved much more than selling T-shirts and foam banana fingers. Moore experienced a community that made her want to continue to foster it. She went right back to Savannah when she graduated and has been doing so ever since.
At home and on the road, Moore oversees setting up the physical stores, souvenir stands, merch trucks, and managing the dozens of people who staff them.
“When there are slow moments, I love taking time to really ask people things like where they’re from or if this is their first game. It’s like I’m building the community that UGA has,” Moore says.
Banana Ball League
What’s better than one banana? A whole bunch!
Banana Ball includes not just Savannah but five other themed teams—all with their own dances and gimmicks—who play the Bananas and each other around the country.
The league includes:
Savannah Bananas
Party Animals
Firefighters
Texas Tailgaters
Loco Beach Coconuts
Indianapolis Clowns
Utility Player
While many folks travel for the Banana Ball World Tour, others, like Maren Finnegan AB ’23, BBA ’23, keep things running at home.
A Colorado native who moved to Georgia as a teen, Finnegan pursued business administration at the Terry College of Business, pairing management skills with a focus on helping others succeed. She also became fluent in Spanish to better connect with anyone and everyone.
“I call myself a Swiss Army knife,” she jokes. “I want to make decisions that make sense for people, not just profit.”
After a whirlwind job search, the Bananas stood out—not just as a place to work, but as a team she wanted to support long-term in human resources.
Finnegan’s title of people and culture coordinator comes along with core workplace responsibilities like benefits open enrollment and scheduling. But she also oversees the addition of new go-getters to the staff roster. Recruiting energetic full and part-time workers is one thing. Helping interns learn as much as possible during their time with the organization is even more special for Finnegan.
“Finding people that bring in new mindsets is always going to be a welcoming outcome,” she says. “That’s how I see us grow, pushing our staff to have new ideas and exposing ourselves to new things.”