COLUMBUS, Ohio – Interns participating in the Ohio State Athletics Bucks Go Pro 1.0 program made presentations to athletics department staff Thursday offering suggestions and enhancements to existing programs and processes.
There were seven presentations with about 33 athletes from the 2022 Bucks Go Pro 1.0 summer internship.
The Eugene D. Smith Leadership Institute’s most tenured program, the Bucks Go Pro 1.0 Internship program runs eight weeks over the summer and allows student-athletes the opportunity to gain important hands-on professional experience. The program incorporates an educational curriculum focused on areas such as networking, leadership and personal finance.
Leah Sax, who representing the women’s lacrosse team among the 2022 Bucks Go Pro interns, said the presentation experience will be a benefit in both her future educational and professional pursuits.
“The group project was one of the highlights of my internship experience,” Sax said. “My future career in medicine will be incredibly team-based, so having the opportunity to model that teamwork now provided an excellent learning opportunity. Through the group project, I learned how to build relationships based on shared experiences with student-athletes from different teams, how to combine individual strengths and leadership styles to capitalize on everyone’s contributions and how to incorporate diversity in experience, insight and perspective into a more effective and successful project.”
Presentation Synopsis
BUCKEYE BASH
Interns: Nicole Riccardi (Center for Innovation Strategies), Derek Keiser (Ticket Office), Jadon Roberson (Marketing), Sydney Taylor (Development), Leah Sax (OSU Physicians)
Group Leader: Omari DeBerry
From the perspective of student-athletes, we planned and organized the annual “Buckeye Bash,” a return to campus celebration for our 36 varsity teams. Throughout the project we analyzed budget and marketing tactics for the event, food suppliers, activities and events, and a t-shirt design.
COMPLIANCE
Interns: Caroline Walsh (Compliance), Peter Van Euwen (Camps), Jonathan Edwards (Sports Operations), Emma Pritchard (Trademark and Licensing), Sarah Morbitzer (Wexner – Nutrition Services)
Group Leaders: Jamie Wood & Nikki Kaplan
Our group was given the task of improving the compliance department’s educational videos. These videos’ purpose is to educate student-athletes on what they need to do to stay eligible on the compliance side. In our presentation, we highlighted what we think needs to be improved and provided a few ways to implement those improvements.
BUSINESS ADVANCEMENT
Interns: Ari Allen (HR), Shaw Satterfield (Office of Investments), Amanda Theile (Office of Compliance and Integrity), Caitlin Foley (Office of Student Life), Sarah Richards (Wexner Medical Center)
Group Leaders: Jessica Fortin & Colin Thompson
Our group was tasked with finding new ways to spread the word about parttime job opportunities for Nationwide Arena and The Schottenstein Center. To prepare for our project, we explored how similar arenas around the country network, in search of the most efficient way to broadcast to their target audience. We have looked through both arena’s websites and Handshake profiles and have provided tips on where we think they can improve. We have suggested ideas on how social media could play a big part in recruiting people of all ages. Along with this, we have assembled a list of outside organizations that would be interested in working for the arenas.
BUCKEYE INCLUSION
Interns: Jess O’Loughlin (Human Performance Collaborative), Taji Flynn (Center for Entrepreneurship), Jean- Pierre Khouzam (Nutrition), Kit Kat Zenick (SPAWS)
Group Leaders: Alex Sommer & Sio St. John
Buckeye Inclusion’s mission is to find ways to create an inclusive environment for all involved in either athletics or business advancement, while also highlighting the various stories and backgrounds of those people. Our group was tasked with creating an event tailored toward engaging and educating all student-athletes on Buckeye Inclusion’s role within the university, as well as revamping the digital media to provide media users a more up-to-date experience.
THE BLACKWELL
Interns: Laurence Wootton (The Blackwell), Emily Ruck (Sport Operations), Abigail Kuhn (Business Office), Maya Geringer (Office of Student Life)
Group Leaders: Jessica Anderson & Melodie Reed
As the sole hotel on Ohio State’s campus, The Blackwell Inn and Pfahl Conference Center can provide the Buckeye community with a unique travel experience. By creating a content calendar with a library of shareable images and implementing new ideas for the Blackwell’s tailgates during football season, our team can grow social media presence, as well as diversify tailgate crowds. In doing so, we believe the Blackwell can undergo an increase in website traffic and event attendance, ultimately providing more exposure for the hotel.
SPORT ADMINISTRATION
Interns: Nolan Williams (SPAWS), Mary Jaskoviak (Athletic Training), Riley Brengman (Camps), Josie Cahall (Communications), Jack Leverett (IT)
Group Leader: Annie O’Neill
Our mission for the Sport Administration project this year was to enhance the experience at athletics award ceremonies. Throughout the summer we have been planning on creating events that celebrate our athletes’ accomplishments by modernizing and improving the gifts, decor, food and venue selections. We plan on bringing two visions to life to ensure all champions are recognized.
DIGITAL MEDIA
Interns: Hannah Oliveros (Digital Media), Rylee Rader (Sports Administration), Eugene Brown (LiFEsports), Bobby Van Buren (Strength and Conditioning), Nina Adrianos (Nutrition)
Group Leaders: Bri Gazmarian & Alex Penrose
The digital media group spent the summer working together to develop and launch the official Ohio State Athletics tik tok account. The task included filming and editing behind the scenes videos of each sport within athletics. The goal of launching the official tik tok account is to grow a successful following by showcasing all our student-athletes.
#GoBucks
