Blue Wahoos Group Sales Rep Attains Big League Dream With Anthem Performance 

Jessica Voigt felt the familiar rush of anxiety, the same surge of exhilaration, as seven years ago when she first performed the National Anthem in front of a large audience.

Back then, however, it was a duet with her older brother, as they stood on the football field at Clay High School in Green Cove Springs, a community 31 miles south of Jacksonville. She was a 15-year-old sophomore.

Fast forward to September 28 and a grand stage for Voigt, who worked the 2025 baseball season as a Blue Wahoos group sales executive and frequently filled in as National Anthem singer.

She performed both the National Anthem and God Bless America as solo vocalist on this day in front of a sellout crowd at the Miami Marlins final game this season. Just as the high school crowd cheered for her that night before kickoff in a prep football rivalry game, so did the 34,000-plus at the Marlins’ loanDepot Park.

“It was such an awesome experience,” Voigt said. “I think it was such a great opportunity. What made it so great was so many people from the Blue Wahoos front office were able to be there. It was electric at that moment.

“And my mother was able to be on the field with me which was such cool experience for her.”

The next experience occurs Saturday when Voigt will perform the National Anthem at Blue Wahoos Stadium before the Mississippi State-Florida State Fall Ball exhibition game event. The teams will be playing an extended time – two seven inning matchups – and a 30-minute break after the first seven-inning contest.

This will be Voigt’s first time in a new position. She recently began a new job as the UWF development coordinator for athletics. She credits her two seasons with the Blue Wahoos for the ability to take on this role.

Voigt earned her degree in 2024 from UWF, so this is another big opportunity for her to re-connect with her alma mater.

And she plans to return as National Anthem singer at Blue Wahoos games in 2026.

“I love to sing,” Voigt said. “My whole family sings, except for my mother. In high school, my brother and I sang it together. When he graduated, I had to learn how to sing on my own.

“I have sang at a bowling alley, a church, a UWF basketball game, a UWF baseball game here at (Blue Wahoos) the stadium. I used to sing at my high school basketball games and volleyball games. So, I have always sung the anthem. But never in a venue like the Marlins (loanDepot Park) stadium.”

On that day, along with the game being the Marlins’ season finale, they knocked out the Mets from reaching the post-season Wild Card series playoffs. The crowd contained a majority of Mets’ fans and there was a special buzz throughout the stadium before the game when Voigt took the microphone behind home plate.

“I always get nervous,” Voigt said. “Anyone who has talked to me before, knows I’m completely wigging out the entire time, but (Marlins staff) did such a great job of making me feel very comfortable, which was such a plus.

“When I have sung at (Blue Wahoos) games here, then I have to go work and I’m wearing a team polo shirt, so everyone knows who I am.

“But there I could go sit in the crowd and likely never see anyone again It was nerve-wracking, but honestly I think I get more nervous (at Blue Wahoos Stadium), because I know everybody.”

In June, Voigt was able to perform the National Anthem at a Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp game, so she essentially performed the Anthem at a Double-A stadium, Triple-A ballpark and the Marlins’ MLB home in a span of four months.

“I joked and said, well I just made my Major League debut,”

The opportunity to sing at the Marlins’ season-finale occurred when a Blue Wahoos usher complimented Voigt on her singing and suggested she should perform the National Anthem at a Marlins game. The usher mentioned that to Blue Wahoos owner Quint Studer.

After Studer inquired to the Marlins about the possibility, the game date was set. Voigt was contacted by Shelia Marquez, the Marlins’ long-time field director.

The original plan was for Voigt to sing God Bless America before the seventh inning. Days before the game, Voigt was informed the planned National Anthem singer could not make it and she was asked to sing both patriotic songs.

“Shelia was so great to me. She asked if I wanted to grab food beforehand and I was way too nervous for that,” said Voigt upon meeting her that day. “She took me on the field where I did a run-through and I stayed on the field through the anthem.

“I tried not to look at the (massive) videoboard (located in right centerfield),” Voigt said. “I don’t smile when I sing. So if I catch myself looking over, I am so zoned in that I don’t like the idea of looking at myself.

“When I finished it was like an uproar of cheer, which was so great. It makes me feel so patriotic. I love our country and being able to sing at level and get that feedback from fans was such a cool experience. I had fans tell me what a great job I did and that make it special.”