WRITTEN BY GABE FREEMAN '27

A career in sports goes way beyond the playing field. Shortly after the end of the school year, a group of 14 students, including myself, completed the GAXP Athletics Leadership Experience. This five-day, application-based experience gave us a glimpse into what it would be like to work in the sports world. We met with representatives across all sides of the business, from our own Sports Information Coordinator at GA, Mr. Joe Cicchino, to Legendary College Basketball Coach Fran Dunphy, with each sharing their journey into the industry. Some of these representatives always knew they wanted to go into athletics in some way, but for others, it was not their original plan, which showed us that career paths are always evolving.

On Day One, we met with Coach Dunphy in the morning; he emphasized the importance of hard work, caring about the people around you, and that life does not need a straight path. He shared how he broke into coaching, fell in love with it, and never looked back. Later that day, we heard from Mr. Cicchino, Mr. Barry Beal (Athletic Director at Penn State Berks), and Mr. Zach Berman '04 (Senior Writer at The Athletic), who have all done work in sports communications at various levels. Collectively, they taught us that there is not one conventional path in sports media, and there are job opportunities at every level from high schools to professional sports. Then, Mr. Ian Hillman '09, who works as the Senior Vice President for Strategy and Analytics at Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, shared some details about his role. While working for a group that owns teams like the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) and New Jersey Devils (NHL), he still remains a diehard Sixers fan. He never thought he would end up working for the third largest sports group in the world. To finish off the day, we heard from Alcott Day House Head, College Counselor, and GA Superfan Mr. Joaquim Hamilton. He taught us how to plan and set up the perfect gameday tailgate and reminded us how to support our fellow student athletes.

To start off Day Two, we got a glimpse of what working in campus recreation is like at West Chester University, where we were given a tour of their recreational facility. After that, we met with Miller Sports Construction and Skepton Construction, where we heard about the various projects they undertake, which include building locker rooms, video boards, basketball courts, and many more initiatives. With them, we learned about how sports, construction, and intense planning intersect. We finished off the day getting a tour of the Reading Fightin' Phils' impressive facilities and watching a game. It was interesting to examine the inner workings of a minor league baseball team, which operates very differently from Major League Baseball organizations.

To open up Day Three, we listened to a performance psychology and mental training panel that included former GA swimmer and Olympian Maddie Crippen Plankey ’98, GA Physical Education Teacher and Coach Dr. Sherri Retif, and Clinical Psychologist with a specialty in sport psychology Dr. Megan Cannon. We learned about how all athletes need to undergo some sort of adversity, and there are countless ways to overcome that. Not only is mental resilience important in athletics, it is vital in all parts of life. 

Then, we went to TopGolf with GA Physical Education Teacher and Coach, Mr. David Martin 1760, to listen to his unconventional path into coaching, echoing a lot of messages articulated by Mr. Dunphy.

The rest of our experience consisted of a lesson with GA’s Athletic trainers, Caroline Oakley and Bruce McCabe, and Manager of Fitness and Performance, Mr. Joe Migliarese, meetings with members of the athletic staff at the University of Pennsylvania and Loyola University Maryland, and a tour of M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens. We learned from the colleges that there are many job opportunities within school athletic departments, whether that is in coaching, training, psychology, media, or administration. But, my favorite part of the experience was the tour of M&T Bank Stadium. There, we got to see how their high-tech media booth operated, and I got hands-on instructions to work their amazing instant replay system.

Overall, this experience was a great way of exposing generally undecided students to opportunities within sports. Though all of us have a passion for athletics, we had no idea what we could do with it. Now, a career in sports seems much more possible for us. Every speaker gave us a unique insight into what they do and their differing paths into their career, and I can’t thank them enough for coming to speak to us.