The Sport Management department, alongside Career Services, sponsored the Careers in Sport Internship Panel this past Wednesday, October 7, with representatives from the Valero Alamo Bowl, Spurs Sports and Entertainment, San Antonio Sports and San Antonio Scorpions FC.

The panelists included numerous Trinity alumni: Mary Ullman Japhet, senior director of communications and digital marketing for San Antonio Sports, Jeanne Garza, senior director of corporate partnerships for Spurs Sports and Entertainment, and Rick Hill, vice president of marketing and communication for the Valero Alamo Bowl and Adam Rauch, media relations coordinator also at the Valero Alamo Bowl.

Also in attendance was Matt Barbour, senior director of communications and digital marketing for the Scorpions FC.

Students in attendance, including senior Haley Holcomb, noted the opportunities presented by the event.

“As a senior attending for the first time, I really wish I had gone all the previous years,” Holcomb said. “I really gained a lot from what each of the speakers had to say.”

One of the speakers was a recent graduate, class of ’14 Adam Rauch, who was able to offer insight on the potential of Trinity sports connections in an increasingly competitive field.

“I hope the students were able to connect with me more because I was in their shoes just a few months ago,” Rauch said.

Rauch, who graduated with a communication major and sport management minor, explained his own turbulent post-graduation path but assured students to persevere.

“If you’re really serious about getting into sports be prepared to take your wins and losses, but always reach out to people and stay connected no matter who says yes to you or who says no to you,” Rauch said.

Fellow Alamo Bowl panelist and class of ’91 Rick Hill echoed similar sentiments about the sport job market.

“It’s not an easy road but there are more jobs,” Hill said. “Find things your bosses aren’t so good at “” social media, graphic design “” those are things, especially in sports, that can help differentiate candidates.”

Alongside these statements, Hill noted during his time at Trinity, opportunities for internships, particularly in sport management, were not as predominant as they currently are.

“I think one of the difficulties in the past was the rather rigorous coursework at Trinity, but when you went to compete for internships and full time jobs, other schools have had lots of opportunities to get students in some real life work experience,” Hill said. “There wasn’t the emphasis nor alumni engagement, any concerted effort, to get students into [internships and job] positions.”

Despite the lack of internships in years past, Trinity “” in particular “” the newly established center for experiential learning headed by Jacob Tingle, have been working hard to provide opportunities for students.

“I really think it’s exciting, especially lately, that the experiential learning through the sports management program and alumni engagement are so closely tied “¦ it’s become a win-win,” Hill said. “We get to impart some of our wisdom, and in turn, we get to make some connections to students who may end up helping us on various projects, and these students then get enhanced  resumes experiences, go out and take on jobs.

..Presented.. opportunities not only offer job experience for students, but “” as Hill noted “” offer important insight to the companies.

“I personally have been at the Bowl for 15 years, and I look to both our younger persons on staff and students to give us some perspective every year, whether it’s social media or how people engage with events changes,” Hill said. “It’s nice to be able to get some perspective and to get it from varying age groups and backgrounds.”

For more information regarding the sport management program or center for experiential learning, contact Jacob Tingle at [email protected]