Carolina Sport Business Club

March 19: EXSS Faculty Panel

Dr. Coyte Cooper

• Born in Alaska
• Hobbies: Wrestling, video editing, grows bonsai trees
• Favorite Book(s): Veeck as in Wreck by Bill Veeck; Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
• Projects
  • Putting together a marketing program for NCAA & NCWA

Dr. Erianne Weight

• From Woodland Hills, Utah
• Hobbies: Mountain biking, wakeboarding, downhill skiing
• Favorite Book(s): How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Projects
  • Quantifying the benefits of intercollegiate athletic participation

Professor Barbara Osborne

• From Wisconsin
• Hobbies: Photography, running, golf
• Favorite Book(s): Harry Potter books, Stephen King books, the Wicked series
  • The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  • The Present: The Gift That Makes You Happier and More Successful at Work and in Life, Today! by Spencer Johnson
  • Says UNC kind of fell into her lap
    • Enjoys being a professor here because of the students
    • Projects
      • Looks at scholarships, funding, and NCAA rules-differences based on gender
      • Is doing a content analysis on concussion legislation

Dr. Richard Southall

• From Colorado
• Hobbies: Mountain biking, downhill skiing, scuba diving
• Favorite Book(s): The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe; The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
• Legal and ethical issues in intercollegiate athletics
• Sport facility and event management
• UNC values intellectual activity and students are interested in intellectual inquiry as well
• Projects
  • Expanding the adjusted graduation gap data
    • Looking at taking academic rank and adding to that data
    • Looks at policy implications

Dr. Deborah Southall

• From Ohio
• Favorite Book(s): How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization by Franklin Foer
• Hobbies: Jazzercise
• Projects
  • Looking at NCAA core values and how they’re perceived an practiced in:
    • Division I v. Division II/Division III athletes/athletics
    • Male and female non-Olympic and Olympic Sports

Dr. Robert Turner

• Post-Doctorate Fellow
• Background in Sociology
• From New Jersey
• Research is about the life course of athletes
• Hobbies: Dancing, going to the beach
• Favorite Book(s): Forty Million Dollar Slaves by William C. Rhoden
• Projects
  • Trying to bring a player’s prospective into research
  • Understanding the life of an athlete (life course analysis)

March 26: Life After Sports-Career Tips from Athletes

Sue Walsh, a former UNC Swimmer and ten-time national champion

• Wanted to be a gymnast and a swimmer after watching the Olympics as a child
• Favorite things about college sports
  • Found that having teammates was like having a family
  • Made the transition from high school
  • Best advice (to current athletes)
    • Introduce yourself to all of your professors so you can negate the “dumb jock” stereotype
    • Always remember you’re representing the school
    • Buffalo Bills fan
    • Best sports memory
      • Winning a national championship as a swimmer
      • Believes that society’s standards creating an environment in which children are told to stick to one sport is bad
      • Feeling after last game at Carolina
        • Extremely hard
        • Tough transition
        • Suggests a class, etc. from the University to help with the transition
        • Tips for getting into the sports industry
          • Big pool of applicants and less people vacating positions
          • Have a “Plan B” and you may have to volunteer/be a student intern
          • Thoughts on graduate school
            • Has a CPA
            • Suggests spending some time out in the business world to have an idea of what you truly want to do
            • Doesn’t think she would do anything she’s done in her career differently
            • Would suggest writing classes and wishes there was a “Life 101” class

Tracey Williams, a four-year letter winner in basketball and softball at UNC-Pembroke

• Grew up on a tobacco farm
• Watched the Wide World of Sports as a child and wanted to be an Olympic athlete
• College sports gave her an opportunity to get off the farm
• Best advice
  • Always listen because you may find something of value
  • Likes to follow all professional teams with Carolina players on them
  • Wants to win a national championship with Women’s Basketball
    • Wants to find a way to keep up with the kids and communicate/relate with them
    • Got a chance to work with the “Dream Team”
    • Believes that society’s standards creating an environment in which children are told to stick to one sport is questionable but ultimately depends on the parents
    • Transition from playing sports in college to the real world was hard because she didn’t really do any planning
      • Make a plan and work the plan-have things lined up
      • Advice
        • Don’t burn any bridges
        • Find a way to be irreplaceable
        • Network
        • Graduate school vs. real world experience
          • Depends on the opportunities you have
          • Wants to encourage their athletes to get their degree because they made a commitment to do so
          • If she could do anything differently in her career, she’d invest
          • Would suggest going to career seminars

Deunta Williams, a former first-team All-ACC UNC football safety

• Mom was too scared to let him play baseball but he played football, track
  • Didn’t believe he was that good until his uncle spoke a vision over his life
  • Best part about being a college athlete
    • Loved the perks, competitiveness, relationships formed with his teammates
    • Best advice
      • Wanting to know how to play (was 5^th string) his coach told him to go so hard they can’t keep you off the field
      • Favorite pro team
        • He is a Rex Ryan fan and a Lebron James fan
        • Biggest project
          • Trying to focus on a career outside of football
          • Looking toward media even though he wasn’t interested in it when he was playing football
          • Best sports memory
            • ’09-beating VA Tech when the odds were against them
            • When he became the number 1 safety in his position his senior year
            • Believes some of the innocence is being taken away from the game
            • Was taken off the field because he broke his leg his senior year after he chose to come back
              • Feels like most athletes put all their eggs in one basket and it leaves them vulnerable
              • Advice for people looking to get into sports
                • Network (even if it’s a short conversation or a smile)
                • Try to find a way to fit yourself into a position (find where you fit)
                • What about being an athlete helped you
                  • Group projects
                  • Taking diverse classes
                  • If he could change anything in his career he would have been even more outgoing to people who weren’t athletes
                  • Would recommend taking public speaking to get you out of your comfort zone and help you think on your feet