Profile of Career Development Program

Career Development Program

Career Development Program

When exploring many different avenues for professional work life after graduation, I found myself circling back repeatedly to becoming a collegiate athletic director. After thorough investigation about the industry that goes with being an athletic director, I was able to collect some critical information that will continue to be valuable on my journey towards my end goals as a professional.

The responsibilities that fall on the shoulders of an athletic director are as follows. Providing guidance and direction for a school’s sports program. This would be the defending of the brand and mission statement of where the program is headed. Giving direction/preparing budgets and allocating spending funds on items such as salaries, team travel, equipment purchases, and facility management. This is really the heart beat of any good program across the country. I believe we all have just seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes down to the impact of budgets and spending allocated towards travel, gear, and recruiting. This shake up has really placed a burden on mid major level programs who depend on play-in games to help pay for the operations of particular programs in the department. Next up is collaborating with conferences and leagues about scheduling. This is another 2020 nightmare situation waiting to happen. With there being consistent changes happening daily with new restrictions, this has been an absolute nightmare and I know has kept many individuals sleepless trying to figure out a safe schedule that won't break the bank.

After the cancellation of my college baseball season I took the initiative to prepare for my future. I was able to find two valuable internships that provided me with an avenue to learn and grow within the industry of athletics. My first internship was working with the athletics marketing and fan experience for the College of the Holy cross. I am excited to work with a competitive Division 1 school with rich history comparable to the IVY League. The few months I spent with the team of interns and seasoned individuals who put together the internship was nothing short of amazing. The information shared introduced us to how to handle ourselves and what should be expected when going into your first job opportunity after graduation. The overall focus was figuring out how to market and rebrand the athletic department during COVID-19. The group of 3 interns and myself teamed up for a weekly meeting in which we discussed costs, and advised plans to be called to action by the department for the 2020-21 school year. Learning to work with others around a budget and be on the same page really helped give me some insight into what it would take to be an athletic director. The time management aspect was held as motivation and a great life lesson that I took away from the whole experience. Being able to work as a unit is instrumental in any field, but is imperative for the athletic director with the role they play in leading the department. Transitioning to my other professional networking activity, I traveled to Martin, Tennessee to job shadow and intern with the athletic director at the University of Tennessee at Martin. The time I spent down in Tennessee was imperative for my work experience, also helping my resume for future job applications. I was able to sit in on staffing meetings regarding COVID-19, and listen to conversations about what each sport would look like this academic year. Getting this hands-on work experience really allowed me to grow. I would recommend getting this experience for anyone who is seeking to work in collegiate athletics regardless of what position they are choosing to focus on.

Looking back at some necessary college courses I have taken for the last few years, sports marketing and promotion is one course that really allowed me to grow outside the classroom as well as get hands-on experience in which I was able to run a successful basketball promotion for the men’s and women's basketball teams at Niagara University. The mixture of marketing strategies opened my eyes to different ways to expand my target market. That same semester I took a facility management course that was great for my understanding of how things work internally and how to approach my budget incase of an emergency, and to have money set aside for those instances.

Recently I have begun to Prepare for future experiences that will get me ready for the position of an athletic director. The next piece to the puzzle that will allow me to succeed at the next level is finding opportunities to work with fundraising. A major piece to being an athletic director is being able to raise money and help fund the athletic program through donations and boosters. The ability to fundraise and obtain donations is imperative for the vast majority of universities due to the striking budgets handed down from presidents and from the administration facility. My hope is to find a position like this for the summer of 2021 to help me secure a job after graduation in 2022.

In all I believe I have made good strides in gaining necessary experiences up to this point. I will continue to network and try to expand my knowledge of the ever changing landscape of college athletics.