Personal Narrative: My Role As A Sports Administrator

When it comes to the sports industry, there are many different jobs within organizations and businesses. Prior to interviewing someone, I did a large amount of research on jobs within the NCAA. My ideal interview would have been with the athletic director for the University of Florida, because my goal is to one day become an athletic director. However, Jeremy Foley is a very busy man and was not available to meet with me. Therefore, I interviewed who I believe to be the next best person. I interviewed the coordinator of volleyball operations for the University of Florida Gators, Alesha Busch. Although Alesha does not deal directly with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), she abides by the organizations rules and deals with them through the University Athletic Association (UAA). The reason I chose to interview

When I received the promotion to Director of Academics and the Assistant Athletic Director for Academics at Portland State I was required to keep the job responsibilities that were associated with my Academic Advisor position. This meant that not only was I responsible for job duties as an advisor but I was also given the responsibilities of the Academic department and supervising. I went from a case load of 150 students to over 300 and supervising a staff of just over 10. I had to learn to manage my time efficiently and effectively while being able to handle and manage crises that arose during the day or any impending deadlines. It was also not rare to receive requests from the University General Counsel, Athletic Director, NCAA, Compliance

I grew up in a family of six people was for brothers. Their names are Joe, Daniel, Patrick and me. Growing up we lived on the north side of Indianapolis near fishers area but I lived in Lawrence Township. My family is a sports family my dad play professional basketball in Europe. He attended school at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Growing up my Dad taught me how to play basketball but later on in life I chose to go on the path to play football. My dad was the head coach at Cathedral high school in Indianapolis. He was the only coach to win a state championship for basketball at my high school.

My mind was set to pursue a career in coaching after my undergrad. Leading into my first year as college football coach, I relied mainly on my personal and prior experience during college as a football player. I wanted to provide the players with support and guidance I did not experience having as a player. During my first year as an assistant coach, I managed to influence some players following my main objective in my first year as a coach. Going into my second year, I was promoted with my own position group, running backs (RB), to coach without having to shadow another position coach as an assistant. I was excited, passionate, and overwhelmingly ready to guide this group of young men into a spiritual, motivational direction using my personal experience and my prior knowledge of football to support my coaching goals and objectives.

After waiting three weeks, I was finally cleared to play basketball again only to suffer another one. I was out after receiving an elbow to the head in a previous game giving me my first concussion. Walking onto the court at Eden Valley High School, I could feel the nerves rush through my veins. The whistle blew and the game started. I was going up to grab a pass when an opponent ran into me. Black. In those moments I was unconscious, I could only remember colliding with my opponent. I woke up in a car, my head aching as I sat up and saw bright beams of light off the street lights. The light stung my eyes and made me feel like the world was spinning a million miles per hour. “Stay awake sweetie we are almost home,” whispered my mom. Every heartbeat thumped in my head like a bass with the music to loud. I was so discombobulated and hurt I just laid there in the back seat

As an athlete my passion for sports have grown so much over the past few years. I’ve always enjoyed watching sports on TV, going to sporting events and even playing sports myself. The sports that I’ve played have been, soccer, softball and cheer. But sports that I have been loving to watch and be around have been racing and hockey.

I chose this particular activity because over the past two weeks, one of our assistant coaches has been really trying to work with us and engaging us in thinking about our teammates as a whole, rather than just ourselves. Each day, she has given us a couple quotes, and talked about leadership. She asked a rhetorical question saying, “Are you willing to go the extra mile for not only your teammates, but yourself. This to me in making me think about not only the big things that are going to happen on the court, but it’s the small things that are going to make it matter why I am performing the information she told me.

I was not actually planning to do this event, but I have to be honest, after 65 OCR’s in 2015 I am burned-out both physically and mentally and I just wanted to have an amazing weekend with both amazing people and amazing obstacles and both Canada and Dead End fit that need very well. I cannot say enough good things about my time in Canada this year and was very happy to be able to go and cover this event on short notice/request.

Leadership was a word I was not familiar with when I started playing high school softball as a freshman. As the season started I wasn’t even aware that I had a role until the assistant coach said every player has a specific role that will impact the whole team as it progresses. This opened up my mind and made me realize that although I was just a young player who still needs experience in high school games. I was still being relied on by my teammates and coaches on my specific job on the field and the classroom. Although I was frightened with the role I had, I was supported by my family

I have gained experience in student-athlete support at three different institutions, beginning as a tutor, then mentor, study hall monitor,

High school athletics can form a bond that nothing else can. Throughout my high school career I have been blessed with the opportunity to participate in multiple sports such as cross country, basketball, and track. These sports have shaped my character in a way that nothing else has. It has taught me to stay loyal to those who push me to be better, it has taught me to encourage others when they think they can go no farther as well as the other way around, and it has taught me that the people you play with in high school will have an effect on your life forever. They turned me into a person that is willing to go the extra mile for someone, and they have turned me into a person that will not give up in the sight of

Growing up, I was surrounded by the constant whirlwind of athletics. I rushed between softball games, swim meets, dance recitals, soccer games, and gymnastics performances. When I realized I couldn’t participate in all of these at once, I decided to focus on swimming, and for the next 10 years, spent 30+ hours a week in the water. As my team and I continued to grow, and train, so did our bodies. We endured pulled muscles, torn meniscuses, sprained ankles, and countless labrum tears. It wasn’t just them that suffered, but also their performance in the water.

My adrenaline coursed through my body and my nerves were at an all time high as I was finally getting to play in my first game as a Varsity Wildcat. All my hard work had led up to this moment and there was no way I was going to mess it up. The all too familiar smell of the fresh cut grass made me feel comfortable at that moment and I lined up as the strong side linebacker and got ready for the play to start. Steam filled my helmet and my breathing got gradually quicker and quicker. The quarterback hiked the ball and I knew exactly what play they were running. I threw myself into the gap I needed to and made the tackle, but as I headed to the ground there was a violent crackling in my right knee. The whistle blew again and I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t. A flurry of emotions flooded my brain: fear, anxiety, pain, sadness, regret. When the trainer got me to the bench to see what had gone, wrong he determined that I had torn my Meniscus and I would be out for the season. All my effort on the difficult, hot, summer practice all nulled from this one moment. All my aspirations of

It all started when i was in fourth grade. It all changed what inspired me came by whole big dream that i wanted to be successful at. I was at school just a normal day, and it was times to go to PE, and my coach got out a circular ball that i had never seen in my life. It was kinda colorful, it had some weird word written on it, but i couldn't see from where i was standing. My coach handed us each one of these balls, and coach called them volleyballs. My coach told us what to do and what not to do, so i was at this net, and just gave the ball a high five because that's what he said to do. Coach came over to me, and kinda directed me through and told me it was called a serve. That day i went home thinking about it, and i decided i want to do

Regardless of what you decide to become in your life, writing will always find its way to become a part of it. Each and every profession requires at least some degree of writing. Furthermore, the sooner we realize this, the sooner we will be able to accept the simple truth that it is. My dad has coached high school sports for as long as I can remember at four different schools. His job has exposed me to athletics at a young age, and I can still remember being a first-grader wanting nothing more than to be able to wear a football helmet every Autumn Friday night. I was taught many things you would expect to learn from a coach’s son at a young age. Among these are respect, work-ethic, dignity, but most importantly, competitiveness. Sports are