You can always see a person’s true competitive nature when playing against them in a sport. Perhaps the only thing more competitive than sports itself is the business surrounding it.
Joe Krizman and Colin Latchford are two students who want to enter the world of sport business. That’s why they were keen to co-chair the 6th annual Sport Business Conference at the DC-UOIT Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre.
“I think part of the reason we’re so passionate about this conference is we can really empathize with the people in this room,” says Krizman.
One of the guest speakers was Jennifer O’Neill, a coordinator of interuniversity sport programs at Wilfrid Laurier University.
She says her one goal was to reach out to the students and tell them there is a job out there for them. She hopes they were able to take something from her story and apply it to their own lives, she says.
Latchford says students may not realize the opportunities there are in sports. The conference provided them with an opportunity to explore what the world of sport could mean to them, he says.
One of those opportunities involves charity work. This year’s Sport Business Conference was able to raise approximately $4,500 towards Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities.
The master of ceremonies for the Nov. 24 event was Mike Arsenault. Arsenault is a graduate of Sport Business Management and is currently the weather anchor for Global News.
“It’s nice to come back full circle and kind of give back and pay it forward, because that’s essential. Especially for those looking to get into the sport or media industry,” says Arsenault.
The conference contained two separate panel discussions.
The first included Joe Birch, senior director of Hockey Development and Special Events for the OHL, Blake Corosky, president of True Gravity Baseball and Michael Cvitkovic, a representative from Pan Am Sports Centre Inc.
The second panel featured the manager of intramural sports at York University, Sarah Broderick and coordinators of interuniversity sport programs at Wilfrid Laurier University, Ryan Lannan and the aforementioned Jennifer O’Neill.
Keynote guest speakers included former president and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays, Paul Godfrey, and president and CEO of Frameworth Sports Marketing Incorporated, Brian Ehrenworth.
Ehrenworth says something like this may have helped him find his true passion earlier in life, and says his goal was to pass on the message of hard work and perseverance.
