Two UNC Asheville students receive invitation to the 2016 Career in Sports Forum in Indianapolis

PRESS RELEASE:

UNC Asheville track & field student-athletes Keenan Devaney and Anna Gelbach were two of the three Big South Conference student-athletes who received an invitation to the 2016 Career in Sports Forum in Indianapolis. Each year, the NCAA invites more than 200 current student-athletes and NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipients from around the country with an interest in working within the sports industry.

Gelbach, who graduated with her degree in Management earlier this May, served as the president of UNC Asheville’s SAAC, overseeing numerous events and fundraisers for the group and was a member of the Leadership Council. Devaney, a rising senior and a Spanish major with a minor in Management, is also active in SAAC and spent the fall of 2015 studying abroad in Spain, hoping to go back in the future. He currently serves as an intern with the athletic department’s Marketing and Fan Engagement office.

Coastal Carolina football player Nicholas Clark will serve as the Big South’s third representative.

Participants who expressed an interest in pursuing a career in sports, and who were viewed as leaders on their campus, were invited to apply to attend the forum after a nomination by athletics administrators at their respective schools. Many current and past attendees are members of their Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), the student-athlete voice within the NCAA governance structure. The selection committee is comprised of administrators and coaches within the NCAA, many former forum participants themselves.

“Supporting NCAA student-athlete leaders with their education is a key goal for the Association,” said Bernard Franklin, NCAA executive vice president of education and community engagement and chief inclusion officer. “Our Career in Sports Forum puts student-athletes and postgraduate scholarship recipients in a non-traditional academic setting where they can learn directly from successful leaders, which can have a positive impact on their future after graduation.”

One of more than 20 annual programs and resources organized and directed by the NCAA leadership development department, the Career in Sports Forum provides college athletes with a broader scope of the career tracks available within the sports business, with the primary focus on college athletics. The forum provides student-athletes interactive experiences with successful individuals in the sports business and a peek into their day-to-day duties and responsibilities.

Forum attendees will hear from keynote speakers and panelists, highlighted by LaChina Robinson, former women’s basketball player at Georgia Tech and current TV analyst; Stevie Baker-Watson, director of athletics at DePauw University; and Craig McPhail, vice president of athletics and club sports at Lees-McRae College. The participants also learn best practices for gaining employment and gathering a better understanding of what future expectations will be once they get a job in sports at the Next Steps Fair, hosted in the NCAA Hall of Champions.

The NCAA leadership development department provides professional and personal development for the entire Association, including student-athletes, coaches and administrators, through accessible resources, strategic partnerships and annual customized programming at little or no cost to the membership. For more information, please go toNCAA.org/leadershipdevelopment.