August 20, 2011
The 2011 NCAA Career in Sports Forum took place June 12-15, 2011, at the Downtown Marriott in Indianapolis, Indiana. Only 303 student-athletes were selected to participate in the forum out of more than 1,100 nominations.
Three Commodores–basketball’s Jordan Coleman, football’s Rob Lohr and lacrosse’s Natalie Wills–attended the event, which featured 10 sport-specific coaching tracks and one track focused on administration.
The administrator track covered the internal and external operations of intercollegiate athletics, highlighting departments such as academics, compliance, development, event management and marketing. The coaching track also discussed a wide range of topics, including organization, teaching, ethical concerns, communications, injury prevention, conditioning and evaluation.
The forum was made up of small-group sessions, sport-specific meetings, a career fair, dinner etiquette instruction and a networking social.
Coleman and Lohr both participated in the administrator track, while Wills focused on coaching lacrosse. All three came in with different goals, but each left with a better understanding of their options after college.
For Coleman, a communication major who is interested in a possible career in sports marketing, the forum’s impressive list of high-profile guests was a highlight.
“They brought in marketing professionals who talked about how they got to where they are, and how we can get to where they are as well,” Coleman said. “It was really beneficial to have contact and network with so many people in the industry.”
An economics major, Lohr saw the forum as an opportunity to learn more about a prospective career in marketing, which may or may not involve athletics.
“I thought this would be a good way to network and get more information,” Lohr said. “I really learned the importance of networking. It’s not all about your resume, but also the relationships you’ve cultivated along the way.”
On the coaching track, Wills gained a new appreciation for her own mentors while absorbing knowledge from the varied groups represented in Indianapolis.
“The biggest thing I took away is that there is no one coaching philosophy,” Wills said. “There’s so much you have to bring to the table in many different aspects. It helped me understand the full job that [coaches] have that we don’t always see as student-athletes. The whole experience was very helpful for anyone that wanted to get into the sports industry.”
