Shenandoah University’s Sport Business Association to Send Team to Super Bowl LIII
Shenandoah University’s Sport Business Association (SBA) will embark on yet another premier sporting event volunteering opportunity at Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta, Georgia.
SBA members have previously worked at the 2017 and 2018 College Football Playoff National National Championships, and members also traveled to the 2018 Winter Olympics as part of a Shenandoah group that volunteered for almost a month at the games.
“Although the trip to South Korea for the Winter Olympics was not an SBA-sponsored trip, the association had a strong presence there,” said SBA Director Jared Lowry ’20.
So, how does a group follow up working at the world’s largest sporting event?
“The only answer would be working at the most televised and commercialized sporting event in the United States, The Super Bowl,” Lowry said.
Shenandoah is a known entity in Atlanta, as that the city hosted the 2017 and 2018 college football playoff games. “The fact that our association will be in attendance and facilitating the operation of the Super Bowl is more than a dream come true,” Lowry said. “We were invited back to work in Atlanta, because the host committee knows the quality of work that we stand for. We don’t put the Shenandoah crest on a body of work that is anything less than exceptional.”
Members of the SBA selected students for the Super Bowl trip using a competitive and rigorous process that required students to submit a resume, cover letter, and business card prior to embarking on a group interview session. A second, one-on-one interview session was conducted to narrow down the selections. Eight students were selected from a pool of 15 applicants.
“The interview process allowed not just myself as a freshman, but others as well, the chance to learn to compete and take advantage of such an opportunity,” said Jake Morris, one of two freshmen selected for the trip. “Competition makes this process all the more fun because when other students, professors, or even future employers see you compete, they all know that you’re going to exceed expectations. As a freshman, this trip means so much to me because it allows me to grow mentally and physically as a sport management major by being able to get the hands-on experience out in the field volunteering for this type of event. For the SBA, this trip will help to build our brand as an association. For Shenandoah, I hope this recognition will bring more students into our Shenandoah family as prospective students see that we work at events like he Super Bowl.”
In a conference room at Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business, in late March, team Shenandoah’s Super Bowl troop officially registered for volunteer credentials. The group is a melting pot of freshman, sophomore, junior and senior sport management majors.
Team Shenandoah’s Super Bowl 53 Volunteer troop:
Casey Edsall | BBA ’16, MBA ’18
Jason Eumon| Sport Management ’21
Malik Henry | Sport Management ’18
Tyler Kilimonis | Sport Management ’20
Jared Lowry | Sport Management ’20
Jake Morris | Sport Management ’21
Tyler Pavlock | Sport Management ’20
Jackson Strickler | Sport Management ’20
–Written by Damon Mackin ’18
