Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Meet The Class 2011 - Rita


One of the unique attributes of the DeVos Sport Business Management Program is the network of students who make up our program. Our class will take every course together during our tenure here at UCF and we will work on countless group projects and collaborative efforts. As a result of our shared interests in the business of sport, a natural team camaraderie is formed. However, our team is composed of people from diverse backgrounds, experiences and ambitions. We offer profiles of class members to give you an idea as to the type of people who make up our program, individuals who collectively will be leaders in sport and society and will be teammates for life.

Name: Rita D. Grayson

Hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana

Undergraduate School & Major: Francis Marion University-Business Management

Past Sports Industry Experiences: NIFL (National Indoor Football League) Game Day Operations Intern/Administrative Assistant

Current G.A. or Sports Industry Related Internship/Job: Graduate Assistant National Consortium for Academics and Sports(NCAS); Orlando Magic Will Call; Varsity Girls Basketball Coach Maynard Evans High School

Reasons for Choosing the DeVos Program: Highly recognized sports business management program in the world, ability to get two master degree’s which will broaden my opportunities in the job market, the values and culture of the DeVos program, and the DeVos program being headed by a racial pioneer, someone who sacrificed himself for others.

Future Career Ambitions: I am going to work in basketball operations, which will lead me to being an athletic director, and ultimately opening my own gym (academy) for the youth. Throughout each career, I will make a difference in the lives of our future.

If you could play a round of golf with any three sports figures (dead or alive, on the field or off) who would you choose and why? Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, and John Wooden. All three of them were the epitome of hard work, commitment, and consistency, and I would like to play a sport that we all aren’t good at(Michael may have a few skills) because it will be about our mental ability rather than physical and because they have it mentally, it will challenge me to get it. I believe it would be a life changing experience.

Monday, November 16, 2009

DeVos in the Fast Lane

Hey everyone,

This is Kristin and I am a member of the DeVos Class of 2011. This past Tuesday our class took a much needed study break to visit the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. We had the chance to eat lunch in the sky suites and meet with the Diversity Affairs staff of NASCAR as well as members of the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) and Daytona International Speedway. All of these entities are working together to expand their market base by instilling strong diversity initiatives and implementing programs that show the organization’s commitment to inclusion. By touring campuses across the country to encourage the awareness of NASCAR and providing scholarships to students along the way illustrates what NASCAR is doing to reach the community and simultaneously, to expand their fan base. The International Speedway Corporation spoke to us about how they conduct market research to incorporate the emerging markets of women, youth, the military and diversity into sponsors and naming rights, which will broaden NASCAR’s fan base and will led to the overall success of NASCAR . We also found out that Daytona International is the biggest sports complex on the eastern seaboard with a capacity of about 200,000 people! That’s crazy. Not only were the speakers great, but we got some NASCAR swag! That’s always a plus :)

After our session with the NASCAR, Daytona, and ISC staff, we went the Daytona 500 Experience. It’s an interactive museum about the history of track and racing. Some of the class took a tram tour of the track where legendary drivers have made history. A slow tram doesn’t compare to the speed of those stock cars but slow or not, I can truly say that I have gone around the track at Daytona Speedway. To think that drivers go over 180mph with a 30 degree banking on the track is crazy! After the tour, some of us even got the chance to test our own high speed driving skills in a NASCAR simulator.

Overall, it was a fun, informative experience that drove us through the different paths that NASCAR, the ISC and the Daytona International speedway are taking to expand its market base and become best sport organization in the world. Often, when we think about sports employment opportunities, we may think about the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, or college sports; but to work at NASCAR would be a great opportunity. Yet again, the DeVos Program has opened yet another window of opportunity and has given us one more career choice to keep in mind.

Below are a few pictures from my very fun and informative day:

Me standing on top of the Sky Suites at Daytona Speedway, pretty cool huh?:



The awesome DeVos Class of 2011 in Victory Circle at Daytona Speedway:



Have a great week everyone!

- Kristin

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Meet The Class 2011 - Rodrigo



One of the unique attributes of the DeVos Sport Business Management Program is the network of students who make up our program. Our class will take every course together during our tenure here at UCF and we will work on countless group projects and collaborative efforts. As a result of our shared interests in the business of sport, a natural team camaraderie is formed. However, our team is composed of people from diverse backgrounds, experiences and ambitions. We offer profiles of class members to give you an idea as to the type of people who make up our program, individuals who collectively will be leaders in sport and society and will be teammates for life.

Name: Rodrigo Quintanar

Hometown: Mexico City

Undergraduate School & Major: Anahuac University

Past Sports Industry Experiences: None

Current G.A. or Sports Industry Related Internship/Job: National Consortium for Academics and Sport

Reasons for Choosing the DeVos Program: As it is an excellent program not only focused on this business by itself but also in all the social improvements that can be done with the power of sports it gives me the best opportunity to perform well in the sports industry and finally to have success in my life.

Future Career Ambitions (1 to 2 sentences): Be the first non American employee with the NFL in a great financial or management position. Be able to change the ideology about sports industry in my country and to create a strong framework to provide better opportunities to Mexican student athletes than they barely have now.

If you could play a round of golf with any three sports figures (dead or alive, on the field or off) who would you choose and why? Steve Young, he is just my life idol, I admire him as a player and as a human being and I would love to meet him and be able to talk with him. Roger Goodell, he is simply the highest authority in the NFL and it’s a dream to me to have an opportunity to talk with him. Lorena Ochoa, she is the best Mexican athlete of all times and she is probably the best woman golfer of the world, I just think she is the right person to be in touch with in order to fix many of the actual problems we have as a nation regarding the sports business.