NCAA Forum Opens Doors to Working in Sports
Diers, Murphy-Pauletto take part in educational outreach
Mike Brohard
RamWire Outreach and Education Content is Powered by Woodward
Eventually, their time on the Colorado State campus as student-athletes will come to an end.
What happens next is up to them. Finding those options can sometimes be a daunting task, but those within Student-Athlete Support Services explore ways to find opportunities to take advantage of and possibly open up a world to possibilities.
Last week, a pair of CSU student-athletes – Jenna Diers and Ally Murphy-Pauletto – took part in the NCAA’s Career in Sports Forum, a three-day event shifted online due to the coronavirus outbreak. Both of them entered with ideas of what they wanted to pursue, and they came away with the knowledge different paths can lead them to their target.
“I think part of it is just being able to see the bigger systems at play in their individual student-athlete experience,” said Marie Tyrell of SASS. “This one with the NCAA Career in Sports Forum, they’re able to not only see the NCAA as an institution, but also all the work they do to develop the membership of different NCAA schools. They also see all the different areas within college athletics that they might be able to then see themselves getting involved with in the future.”
Speakers consisted of current professionals in the sports industry, from athletic directors to coaches, and those working in operations, marketing and sales. The program hit its 10th birthday this year, with program administrator Lamarr Pottinger saying it was the first time it had to be held remotely.
Some of the speakers involved in the program have in the past been students themselves, learning how to break into the profession and in what manner to do so. The presentations by the speakers open up discussions for all to take part.
What he has found is many participating student-athletes are exposed to more than what they normally see on campus.
“This program was developed for the purpose of student-athletes to explore careers within college athletics, and sports in general. Really, just giving back to student-athletes who want to pursue a career within collegiate athletics and being able to highlight more than what they see or don’t see on campus,” Pottinger said. “A lot of times they know about their coach, they know the academic advisor and they know the AD, but they don’t know all the other pieces that go on for them to be able to compete on Saturday, if we’re talking about football. The operations, the marketing, the fundraising, the corporate sponsorships – all the different departments. Then it’s looking at what are the skills or traits I would need to be able to get into a career like that, and what are some of the journeys some of the athletic professionals have taken. We are very intentional with the speakers and panels we have who are really bought into the development of student-athletes and that will be open to connecting with student-athletes who will take the extra mile and reach out to those professionals who present after the program.”
Diers, a member of the cross country and track teams, came out of high school with a fairly set direction for her education. After spending her senior year at Lincoln Way West High School in Manhattan, Ill., helping the school’s athletic director, she viewed the profession as a way to make a positive impact on students.
The forum, while targeted mostly at the collegiate level, provided her with a sense of what she’ll need to do moving forward to get into the field, as well as what sets many apart as true mentors, with the theme of passion for the pursuit presented quite often.
In many ways, the forum helped seal her resolve for becoming an athletic administrator. She was particularly moved by the presentation of Ashleigh Huffman, a program specialist at the U.S. State Department, as well as current Mississippi women’s basketball coach Yolette McPhee-McCuin at the end of the second day.
“I really want to help kids achieve their goals through sports. I think sports teach so much to people, and I want to help facilitate that and help them achieve their goals, whether that’s play at the DI level or simply just make the team in general,” Diers said. “I feel being an AD is really where that all kind of starts, and making sure the coaches have the right intentions.”
Tyrell likes the Career in Sports Forum for the information it provides, as well as how student-athletes in the past have responded to the message.
SASS uses a few models presented by the NCAA for their athletes, as well as on-campus and community initiatives. The goal of the group is not just to help CSU student-athletes reach their educational goals on campus, but to prepare them for how to use those assets when approaching the job market.
“We want our students to constantly have meaningful experiences that help them to see themselves as more than students and more than athletes,” she said. “Anything we can do to help them just really broaden the view of not only the world but of themselves.”
I really want to help kids achieve their goals through sports. I think sports teach so much to people, and I want to help facilitate that and help them achieve their goals, whether that’s play at the DI level or simply just make the team in general. I feel being an AD is really where that all kind of starts, and making sure the coaches have the right intentions.Jenna Diers, Cross Country/Track Athlete
During the forum, the pursuit of the future and the present state of unrest in the country provided a perfect training ground, as protests taking place worldwide in response to the death of George Floyd provided lessons for what the attendees might face in the future in their roles.
For soccer player Ally Murphy-Pauletto, as positive of an experience as the forum was for what was scheduled, she was happy to see the organizers and speakers didn’t just stick to the plan and opened the windows to what was taking place across the country.
Like Diers, Murphy-Pauletto is also interested in becoming an athletic director or a senior women’s administrator, but at the collegiate level. A fan of Joe Parker, she’s more than content to wait for Parker to retire before pursing the post at her school.
She also found the message of McPhee-McCuin to be quite powerful, as well as the discussion led by Syracuse assistant athletic director for student-athlete engagement Mark Trumbo, who spoke openly about the duties of an athletic department in times of social crisis.
“He was incredible. He was someone who directly addressed it, and the group chat was just blowing up with people saying thank you for addressing this, this needs to be talked about more,” she said. “I think the discussion is huge, but also the action to back up the discussion are even more important, and he had both.”
While speakers were on their screen, chat rooms were set for open discussion and questions, and those chat rooms eventually moved to the GroupMe app. They are a way to continue to network, but Murphy-Pauletto noted they have also become a way to share feelings, emotions and ideas for action. The group is more than 300 strong, made up of the presenters and the student-athletes who took part.
For both, the chats have been a way to extend the forum beyond the scheduled three days. And while it may help them in the future as they start to pursue careers, the conversation has been a positive reminder of what was expressed to them many times by various presenters.
“I think sports have the power to impact each of our lives through the media, our voices and our actions,” she said. “In a way, we are a reflection of the greater community, and this is why in light of events the last week in our country -- Minneapolis, Houston, D.C. – the voices of a diverse population of student-athletes is extremely relevant and important.”
A fact, they were told, the participants needed to understand now, as well as recognize in the future as professionals in the field.
About Woodward: Woodward is an independent designer, manufacturer and service provider of energy control and optimization solutions for aerospace and industrial markets. For 150 years, Woodward has focused its resources and expertise on delivering proven systems that perform under incredible demands.