On opening night of the 2003-04 hockey season, Shawn Lynch walked into Bojangles Coliseum for the first day of his internship and was immediately greeted with the question, “Are you scared of heights?”
“I didn’t really know the answer to that, no one had ever asked me that,” said Lynch. “But I said no because it was my first day and I was going to do whatever I was asked.”
He was then led all the way up to the Coliseum roof and tasked with holding - and eventually releasing - a banner.
“So I sat up in the catwalk and watched my first Checkers game from up there for a little bit,” he said. “Then I walked back down into the office and was kind of like, what’s next?”
What’s next for Lynch nearly 22 years later, is taking over the team he once interned for.
Zawyer Sports & Entertainment announced earlier this morning that Lynch has been named President of the Charlotte Checkers.
“It’s immense pride,” said Lynch of his reaction to the promotion. “It’s something I’ve wanted for a long time.”
Lynch will be taking over for longtime COO Tera Black, who announced this morning her plan to step away from the role - though she will continue to serve in an advisory capacity.
“For me to have this position, it means a little piece of our organization is gone,” said Lynch. “I feel the weight of the world taking this over, in a role that Tera did everything right in. We’ve had such momentum, we’ve continued to build year after year. So the pressure is there to keep that up. But we’re surrounded by great people. The rest of our staff is still intact. The future is bright for the Charlotte Checkers and I’m so excited to be the team president and lead us in our next chapter.”
The Checkers’ longest tenured employee - starting with that internship in 2003 and progressing all the way to Senior Vice President since 2013 - Lynch has had a hand in so much of the team’s extensive history.
“I’ve been through a lot of change here at the Checkers,” he said. We spent two years in this building, then moved Uptown to what is now the Spectrum Center. There’s been ownership changes. A move from the ECHL to the American Hockey League. Leadership changes from my first boss Jeff Longo to our current COO Tera Black. We’ve had championship runs - we’ve been on the good side of those and we just experienced one of the most devastating losses in Checkers history, but also one of the most important runs we’ve ever had.”
He’s also had a firsthand look at how this team has endeared itself to the region and helped hockey plant roots in the Queen City.
“The first couple of years they asked if I worked for the restaurant chain or if I worked for the Checker Cab company,” said Lynch. “That’s changed under our recent leadership. I would say in the last 15 years, everybody knows who the Checkers are. Every time I meet somebody the response I always get is, ‘Those games are so fun, you guys do such a great job, you must have such a fun job.’ And we do. We work hard and we play hard. It’s something I take pride in every single day - putting this brand on with our city and with our logo.”
Lynch is taking over an organization that posted record revenue across all categories during the 2024-25 season, and he has no plans of slowing down.
“Our fan base is growing every day, the city of Charlotte is growing every day,” said Lynch. “There are so many opportunities to attract new fans. We want to put our best foot forward and show them that we’re not just a minor league hockey team - we’re on the same stage as every other sports team here in Charlotte. We will do our best to entertain them and we will do our best to provide a quality product in a great building with so much history.”
For the fans that have been loyally frequenting Checkers games over the past two decades, they’re getting a familiar, friendly face as the new team president. For the new fans, they’re getting someone whose entire professional history is intertwined with this hockey team.
“I want to meet those new fans just as I’ve met the thousands and thousands that have walked in the building for the past 21 years,” he said. “We welcome our new fans, and hopefully to the fans that have been around here the last 21 years that I have interacted with, this is a move that they support, and I know most of them do.”
Lynch started the 2003-04 Checkers season as an intern. He’ll start the 2025-26 season as team president. And like he has been every day for the last two decades, he’s ready for whatever is next.
“Me talking to that same kid that walked in the door in 2003,” he said. “We’re two completely different people with so many different responsibilities, but still so excited to be here.”