Read More Behind the TorchAaron Williams
Graduate Student in Sport Management
Today is our fifth day in beautiful Colorado. Our adventures today didn’t take us outside but led us into the classroom to hear from sport business professionals from many of the leading sports affiliated organizations.
After breakfast in the dining hall, we started the morning in Sports Center II where Dave Ellis, president of Sports Alliance Inc. and creator of the Fueling Tactics Systems, gave an in-depth look at how his nutrition models have helped change the landscape of sports performance in high schools, colleges and professional sports.
Ellis also touched on some newly released research involving the Gut-Brain Access and the impact it could have on sport performance technology in the future.
Ellis was intriguing because of his work with many of my home state’s great sports organizations — the Wisconsin Badgers, the Milwaukee Bucks and my favorite, and dream organization to work for, “America’s Team,” the Green & Gold, aka The Green Bay Packers!
If you don’t know me well, just know I am a proud cheese head and often get called a variety of nick names, including Wisconsin, Cheese head, Sconnie, Wisco, etc.
Our next speaker, Michael Cain, the USOC director of OTC Business Development, enlightened us on the OTC business proposal for the visitor center and the approaches they take to enhance the overall OTC tour. Cain also detailed how they plan to increase visitor numbers annually and the improvements in place for developing an eye-catching tourist destination in beautiful Colorado Springs.
Our final speakers for the morning were Kevin Pearson, the USOC coordinator of diversity & inclusion, and Jason Thompson, director of diversity & inclusion. Pearson began with a couple of interactive educational activities that got us on our feet, literally.
Pearson tied his activities to his concepts of social systems and sport. Thompson then gave us an “outside looking in” approach of diversity in sports and statistical analysis of demographics surrounding the industry. After a jam-packed morning of excellent speakers, it was time for lunch.
In the afternoon we made our way to the United States Anti-Doping Agency and heard from several key figures, including Travis Tygart, USADA’s executive director & CEO; Terry Madden, former executive USADA director; Sandi Briggs, USADA business affairs & finance director; Barron Pittenger, USADA consultant & USOC Olympic Movement special contributor; and Larry Bowers, USADA lead scientist.
We learned a lot of the history behind the organization and about many of the high-profile cases, such as Lance Armstrong, Victor Conte (BALCO scandal), Barry Bonds and Marion Jones. Hearing from the people who served justice on some of the biggest sports scandals known was an awesome experience.
Just hearing about the length of the investigations and the ins and outs of each case was astounding! It’s great knowing we have such a powerful organization that is cleaning up our tainted sports world and helping pave the way for the future of clean sports.
Briggs finished up with an exceptional presentation on “How do you get the job you want?” and her top 10 list for career development and finding employment.
After leaving USADA, we headed to the National Strength & Conditioning Association World Headquarters. There, we heard from Micheal Embree, the executive director, and Scott Cofield, NSCA’s head strength and conditioning coach.
We learned the history of the organization and its growing need in the sports industry. After the pair’s presentation, we wrapped up the visit with a tour of the facility.
Whew, what a day! My brain is filled to mental capacity. Till tomorrow … . Be sure to check out how the rest of our educational trip turns out in the blog.
Fifteen prospective sport management professionals from The University of Alabama will have an opportunity to interact with the nation’s sport managers during a graduate-level, interim travel course at the United States Olympic Committee headquarters. Three of these students – 23-year-old Margaret-Anne Dyson, of Pensacola, Florida, 23-year-old Brea Armstrong, of Memphis, Tennessee, and 24-year-old Aaron Williams, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin — will blog about their learning adventures over the next seven days.