SMSA visits Oklahoma City

Students from Wichita State University’s Sport Management Student Association traveled to Oklahoma City April 16. The students visited with staff members from the OKC Thunder (basketball), Barons (hockey) and RedHawks (baseball) teams.

The trip is designed to give SMSA students a glimpse into the daily operations of professional sports teams. Students also got the chance to network with management and other sport professionals. This is the third year SMSA has taken the trip to OKC.

“Wichita State is really a good opportunity,” said Brenna McConaughey, SMSA newsletter editor and graduate assistant in the Department of Athletics. “It’s a great program. The professors care about us. They want us to do a good job. They want to push us. They want us to have connections.”

SMSA drove to Oklahoma City and visited with RedHawks sport management professionals at the RedHawks Field in Bricktown. Afterward, they ate lunch at the ball park with a representative of the Red Barons and then walked to Oklahoma City Arena to network with members of the Oklahoma City Thunder staff.

“For us that’s the way we’re going to land a job; it’s through networking,” said Ashley Byers, SMSA president and graduate student in sport management.

In all, SMSA met with 11 sport managers between three different teams and toured two professional sports facilities, including Oklahoma City Arena on game day.

“It was a fun day, but it was highly educational,” said Clay Stoldt, professor and chair of the Department of Sport Management at Wichita State. “We had nothing but positive feedback from everybody we met.”

“I think it’s really good for our students to go down there and to hear these are the steps that you need to take to work in professional or minor league sports,” McConaughey said.

After meeting with Thunder staff, SMSA students watched the Thunder play the Denver Nuggets. The game helped some students see and compare the difference in games between the NCAA and NBA.

“It was cool for me to go and see what they were doing and what we could do,” said McConaughey, who worked as director of marketing for the Shocker men’s basketball team.

“An NBA game is so different than a college game,” she said.

The trip was nothing leisurely, though. With nonstop meetings, followed by question-and-answer sessions and walks across Bricktown, students were worn out by the time the Thunder game started.

“It gives them a real-world experience and viewpoint,” Byers said. “It’s an awesome eye opener.”

SMSA students returned to Wichita State that same night, making for one busy day. The impressions they made, in addition to the connections and networking opportunities, were invaluable.

“It’s really good to see the kind of impressions our students make on the other practitioners with whom we get to visit,” Stoldt said. “Our students understand the field and they know how to present themselves.”

SMSA students hope some of these connections will lead to future jobs and internships. These internships, mixed with their education at WSU, will prove priceless in the workforce.

“My experience that I’ve had is what’s going to get me a job,” McConaughey said. “But the education I’ve received is what’s going to push me past other candidates.”

For more information on the Department of Sport Management, or SMSA, visit http://www.wichita.edu/thisis/home/?u=coedsm.