Sport Management News
Falk College Hosts Inaugural Football Analytics Blitz Competition
“The SABR Diamond Dollars baseball case competitions were influential to growing my professional skills, so I wanted to give an opportunity similar to that for students whose primary focus is football,” Koeppel said.
With the help of Assistant Professor Dr. Jeremy Losak and Sport Analytics Academic Advisor Francesco Riverso, the Syracuse University students partnered with Pro Football Focus (PFF), the data supplier for all 32 NFL teams. Koeppel and Ayers worked with Eric Eager, PFF’s vice president of research and development, who also served as a judge for the competition. PFF provided competition teams with facet grade and play-by-play data, which the teams were required to use in their analysis. PFF gave members of the overall winning team free memberships to its services.
The competition featured 20 teams from 14 college and universities, including Carnegie Mellon University, Colorado School of Mines, Duke University, Iowa State University, Northwestern University, Syracuse University (four teams), University of Central Florida, University of Michigan, University of Notre Dame (three teams), University of Oklahoma, University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University, Wake Forest University (two teams), and Yeshiva University.
Teams were tasked with solving the prompt of “Optimizing the Pass/Run Ratio in Different Sections of the Field.” They were given one week to analyze the prompt and create a 30-minute PowerPoint presentation that was presented live via Zoom on competition day. Teams incorporated play-by-play data to break down what they believed the optimal pass/run ratio is within five zones of the field. They applied those ratios to two NFL teams from the 2020 season, evaluated play-action rates of their teams, and summarized their findings.
Judges for the competition came from five NFL teams and four sport analytics companies, including Charlie Adkins (Arizona Cardinals), Ben Baldwin (The Athletic), Ben Brown (PFF), Sean Clement (Baltimore Ravens), Shuler Cotton (Buffalo Bills), Eric Eager (PFF), Jeremy Hochstedler (Telemetry Sports), George Li (Indianapolis Colts), Matt Manocherian (Sports Info Solutions), Weller Ross (Houston Texans), Brad Spielberger (PFF), and Daniel Stern (Baltimore Ravens).
“This event was very well thought out and planned, and that showed in the types of solutions that teams proposed,” Eager said. “Much of analytics centers around the question that is asked, and the prompt of this competition was relevant to the ideas that are constantly being explored by teams and analysts of the NFL and college football.”
The Syracuse team that won its room featured Sport Analytics majors Kylie Dedrick ’23, Alison Gilmore ’24, Mackenzie Mangos ’22, and Marissa Schneider ’24, and Sport Analytics minor Jenna Elique ’22.
“Sport analytics is a fiercely competitive industry,” said Li, a senior football strategy analyst for the Indianapolis Colts. “For these students to have a forum where they can put their talents on display and get feedback from industry professionals can go a long way toward differentiating themselves.”
Syracuse University Sport Analytics Director Dr. Rodney Paul said the plan is for the Football Analytics Blitz to become a yearly event in Falk College.
“The students did an incredible job with the competition,” Paul said. “I thank them, along with Dr. Losak and Francesco, for having the vision and drive to create this exciting event. I’m extremely proud of all of our student teams, especially that our all-female team won their room at the competition.”
Learn more about Syracuse University’s bachelor’s degree in Sport Analytics.
Going Strong in Glasgow
While Bombrys’ playing days have passed, his commitment to the game has never been stronger than it is today. He is, after all, enjoying his 10th year as the managing director of the Glasgow Warriors—and the only American who holds a leadership position in the European professional leagues. “I’m responsible for all aspects of the club—raising the money, spending the money, making sure the books balance for the owners,” he says. “I’m accountable for the playing side as well, so I support the head coach with all the player recruitments and development.”
Under Bombrys’ guidance, Glasgow has risen from the lower ranks and evolved into a steady contender—advancing to the semifinals of the league’s playoffs seven times, appearing in three finals and winning the championship in 2015. “We’ve been consistently successful—right there as one of the top teams in the competition every year,” he says. “So that’s been really rewarding, where it was unthinkable a decade ago.”
Supporting Syracuse
Throughout his career, Bombrys has maintained his connections with Syracuse University, providing opportunities for students and supporting its rugby club. In 2015, he established a full-time, semester-long internship for sport management majors from Falk College. He’s welcomed two Falk students so far and looks forward to hosting more as circumstances allow. “When we can make it work, we’re all for it,” says Francesco Riverso G’05, a program manager and academic advisor with Falk’s Department of Sport Management. “It provides a unique twist on things for our students, and Nathan’s really involved.”
Bombrys wants the students to be fully immersed in the Warriors’ world. “We’re high profile and a professional sport, but on the business side, we’re like a medium-sized business, so they get exposure to things they’d never get in most other sporting situations—logistics and team operations, marketing and PR, and sponsorship,” he says. “If the students show that they want to do more, then I let them.”
In addition to the internship he created, he has helped organize international tours for the Hammerheads in England and Scotland, including one that featured a visit to Lockerbie and its memorials honoring the Syracuse students and others lost in the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town. Bombrys also hosted groups of students from the Syracuse Abroad London Center when he was with the Sale Sharks in Manchester, sharing tours, talks about rugby and game tickets. “I’d try to give them a good experience,” he says. “I really enjoyed it, and it kept that connection with SU for me.”
As one of Bombrys’ enduring friends, Bob Wilson G’72, notes, the Syracuse University Rugby Football Club represents an international experience—whether it’s American and international students playing together or alumni, like Bombrys, who head overseas to compete. “One thing we say to players coming into our club is that we’ve had graduates go on to play in a number of countries abroad—South Africa, Australia, England, Hong Kong—so we’re involved in the international experience of students and graduates,” Wilson says. “Nathan exemplifies that in terms of making a very successful career from living abroad and playing abroad.”
Wilson, a British native, has served as the Hammerhead’s coach and faculty advisor since 1983. “Because rugby is robust and challenging, you tend to develop strong relationships and contacts through participation,” says Wilson, who recently retired as director of student support services.
Bombrys also takes great pride in the club’s alumni association and its support of both the men’s and women’s teams. For him, it all goes back to those days on SU’s Hookway Fields—home of the Syracuse University Rugby Football Club—where he discovered a rough-and-tumble sport that’s filled with friendships and stays true to its traditions—an experience that sent him on a remarkable and rewarding journey. “It’s a sport about camaraderie,” he says. “There’s no other sport that I’ve been involved in that brings people together the way rugby brings people together.”
Finding a Home on Hookway Fields
So how did someone who’d never locked up in a scrum until college end up being called the “most influential American in European rugby” in a BBC Sport website article several years ago? Quite simply, he followed his passion, which was sparked on Hookway Fields. Bombrys grew up in Mendon, Michigan, where both of his parents were teachers and coaches. He played basketball and baseball, ran track, and was an all-conference football player who was recruited by several NCAA Division II and III colleges. Looking for a new experience in college, he decided to study filmmaking, which led him to major in film at Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Call it happenstance, serendipity or fate, but Bombrys’ life was forever changed when he went to sign up for a walk-on tryout with the Orange football team. As he was preparing to put his name down, someone in a Syracuse rugby jacket tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Don’t do it, Rudy…”—referencing a popular movie about a walk-on football player at Notre Dame—and invited him to give rugby a try that afternoon instead. “It was obviously a tried-and-tested recruitment technique,” says Bombrys, who accepted the offer. “I got the physicality from the contact aspect of tackling and hitting rucks, but I got to run with the ball, pass it and kick it, so that was me. I fell in love with the game right then and there.”
Bombrys became a dedicated member of the Hammerheads, serving as captain and president. Along with escalating his love for the game, he forged friendships and valued the team’s international nature, noting that he had teammates from South Korea and Kenya. “It gave me such a fabulous experience, and I really enjoyed the camaraderie,” he says. “Playing rugby exposed me to people who otherwise I’d probably never have been exposed to, and I built some lifelong friendships from those experiences over four years at Syracuse.”
The Professional Journey
When Bombrys decided to forgo a career in the film industry in favor of venturing to England, Wilson tapped into his network and gave Bombrys the number of a friend who was a team owner in the British Basketball League. In turn, he connected Bombrys with Rick Taylor, an American who was the managing director of the league’s London Towers. Along with competing on the rugby pitch, Bombrys worked hard under Taylor’s mentorship, gaining marketing skills and learning the ins and outs of operating a professional sports franchise. “We had some success—I filled Wembley Arena for a British basketball game, which I don’t think has been done since,” he says. “I was lucky, because Rick was probably the best salesman I’ve ever met, particularly in sport. I learned from him how to sell sponsorship and sell sport.”
After three years as head of marketing under Taylor, Bombrys began marketing and sponsorship consulting in Glasgow. Two years later, he entered the world of top-shelf professional rugby, signing on with the Sale Sharks of the Premiership League, England’s top division, where he served as the commercial and marketing director for nine years.
He returned to Scotland in 2011 to lead the commercial department for the Scottish Rugby Union, the nation’s governing body for the sport and the owner of the Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby. “The game is uniquely structured,” he explains. “The professional clubs contract the players, but then must release them to their national governing bodies to play for their countries. In certain territories, those clubs are privately owned and in others, like here in Scotland, they’re owned by the governing bodies.” As Bombrys points out, international rugby is the pinnacle of the sport, so the national organization relies on the professional club teams to develop talent for the Scottish national team.
Within a year of joining the rugby union, Bombrys was named managing director of the Warriors. Since then, he has worked to secure and develop talented players, build the fan base, and rebrand the team, which included creating a new logo. He’s also collaborating with city officials to redevelop the Warriors’ home, Scotstoun Stadium, which regularly sells out its 7,350 seats. While that’s comparatively small to American stadiums—“I played high school football in front of crowds that big,” he says—the Warriors’ games are routinely one of the largest sporting events in Scotland. “We have really passionate fans and the best traveling support all over Europe,” he says. “They absolutely love the club, and we’ve needed a bigger stadium for a few years now.”
Since the pandemic outbreak, fans have mainly been relegated to cheering in front of their televisions. After completing an abbreviated 2019-20 season, the league launched its 2020-21 season in October, and “all games are behind closed doors,” says Bombrys, who’s guided the team through lockdowns, COVID-19 eruptions, postponements and schedule shuffling.
Amid his success, Bombrys has remained true to Syracuse University and his rugby roots. “We’re obviously proud that someone from Syracuse rugby has gone on to play in England and then be a top administrator in Scotland and Europe,” Wilson says. “Nathan is an excellent example of the talented students that Syracuse admits, and he is also doing what he can to continue his support of Syracuse University.”
~ Adapted from a Syracuse University Story by Jay Cox originally published on February 18, 2021.
Annual sport management job-shadowing program goes virtual in 2021
Unlike in years past where students job shadowed alumni in their geographical location for a day, the 2021 event turned virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of hosting students on site, our alumni hosted topic-based online workshops. Alumni provided the parameters for their workshops. Students were then tasked with conducting research relative to the workshop, and then came prepared with their case study findings to the workshops.
“I really enjoyed the virtual job-shadowing event because I got to be creative and see what I could find out about the company with the data that was provided,” said SPM major Jenna Tivnan ’22.
The five workshop topics were:
- Events and Operations: co-hosted by Anna Zorn (SVEM ’18 at Soldier Field) and Drew Altavilla (SPM ’13 at Louisiana State Athletics).
- Marketing and Agency: co-hosted by Meghan Grassadonia (SPM ’17 at Excel Sports), Leah Riccolo (SPM ’20 at Rubicon Talent) and Brett Polinsky (Whitman ’17 at Rubicon Talent).
- Sales and New Business: co-hosted by Ben Norowski (SPM ’12 at New York Red Bulls) and Ian McFate (SPM ’08 at Aramark).
- Sports Betting and Marketing Partnerships: co-hosted by Brett Woltz (SPM ’11 at BetMGM) and Ayal Pessar (SPM ’19 at BetMGM).
- Analytics and Player Operations: hosted by Drina Domic (SPM ’19 at NBA).
“The case study discussion was definitely worthwhile,” Grassadonia said. “The best kind of brainstorming and collaboration is involving many different thoughts and ideas from various people.”
Thirty-four sport management, sport analytics and sport venue and event management students took part in the week-long series of online workshops.
“Not only was this a great opportunity to provide students with valuable content-based workshops over their long winter break, but it opened doors for them to expand their professional networks as they look for internship opportunities in the future,” said SPM Internship Coordinator Lisa Liparulo, who coordinated the event.
Domic was impressed by the students’ energy and focus during the workshops. “The students were eager to present and participate,” she said. “Some students even took the initiative to follow up after the workshop on my constructive feedback.”
“I was shocked with how attentive the students were, especially for a voluntary workshop,” Norowski said. “The engagement was a huge part of why our workshop was successful and I loved being able to answer questions and pass my experiences on to the students.”
The Department of Sport Management would like to thank the alumni who participated in S.P.M. Week 2021. If you are interested in participating in S.P.M. Week 2022, please email Liparulo at lmliparu@syr.edu.
Sport Management Club raises $43,500 at 16th Charity Auction
In November 2020, online supporters placed bids on more than 300 items, including sports memorabilia, electronics, jewelry, gift baskets, trips, clothing and more. The money raised will help Meals on Wheels serve approximately 11,000 meals to people in need in the Syracuse-area community.
The SPM Club is a student-run organization in the Falk College Sport Management Department. Since its founding in 2005, the club has raised more than $567,000 for local charities. Previous beneficiaries of the club’s annual charity auction have included Boys & Girls Clubs, Golisano Children’s Hospital, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of CNY, the Central New York SPCA, the Upstate Cancer Center, Special Olympics New York, Food Bank of CNY, the Salvation Army, Rescue Mission Alliance, American Diabetes Association, Make A Wish CNY, and McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center.
“Our Sport Management Club was founded on the principles of teaching our membership the value of civic engagement, community service, and social responsibility through sports,” said Michael Veley, Rhonda S. Falk endowed professor and director of Sport Management, who also serves as the organization’s faculty advisor. “The countless hours of dedication by these students to ensure that the proceeds from our charity auction would help feed families in need in our community is extremely gratifying, especially given the circumstances surrounding the pandemic and having to shift the event from in-person to online.”
The Sport Management Club meets at 7 p.m. Tuesdays during the academic year. All Syracuse University students are welcome to attend regardless of major. For more information, contact SPM Club president Blake Taub (bltaub@syr.edu) or visit our Student Organizations page.
For more information about the annual Charity Auction, visit Twitter @SPMAuction, Facebook
Feb. 23 Webinar: Sport Sponsorship’s Future in a Post-Pandemic World
At 4pm Tuesday, February 23, Falk College’s Department of Sport Management will present a free webinar on the future of sport sponsorship and branding in a post-pandemic world. Sport industry executives will share their insights as to how the pandemic has affected their respective sectors of the industry, and specifically about the future of sports sponsorship and corporate branding.
Our panelists for “Brought to You By… Sport Sponsorship in a Post-Pandemic World” are:
Russ Brandon is best known for his 21-year tenure in the front office of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, including six years as team president. He also served as president of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres and AHL’s Rochester Americans. Brandon now serves as a consultant in the sport industry.
Mike Duda is the co-founder and managing partner of consumer investment company Bullish, Inc. Bullish combines the power of top-flight brand marketing, strategy and creative talent with the fund. Its marketing agency builds brand identities for emerging businesses as well as creates Super Bowl campaigns for Fortune 500 firms.
Andrew Goodrich is the deputy athletics director and chief marketing officer for Syracuse University Athletics. He was integral to extending the department’s relationship with Nike as the official apparel provider of SU Athletics. Goodrich has extensive collegiate athletics experience, having worked for the University of South Florida, Miami and Notre Dame.
Pam Hollander, a Syracuse University alum, is an innovative marketing executive with a passion for advancing brands through sponsorships and brand engagement. As vice president of consumer marketing at Allstate, she led the brand’s national sponsorship and engagement marketing portfolio.
Deidra Maddock, a Syracuse University alum, is vice president of sports brand solutions and advertising sales at Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution. She leads a cross-country team responsible for marketing sponsorships across all professional league content, as well as ESPN news and information programs and ESPN-owned events.
Moderator Mike Tirico spent 25 years handling a variety of assignments for ESPN, ESPN Radio and ABC Sports before joining NBC Sports in 2016 as one of the most recognizable faces and voices in the industry.
This free webinar is sponsored by CollectibleXchange. If you would like to make a donation to support students and events in Syracuse University’s Department of Sport Management, please make a gift to Sport Management online.
If you missed our last webinar, watch the recording, “COVID-19’s Impact on the Sports Industry.”
Female sport analytics students look to transform their love of math, sports into STEM careers
“Seeing there is a community of really amazing women in the industry, no matter how small, is proof I can succeed there as well. This has been a real inspiration for me, and I imagine it will be for other women,” says Brown, who is a member of the Baseball Statistics and Sabermetrics Club and the newly formed Sport Analytics Women (SAW) Club, where she serves as vice president.
For women in Syracuse University’s sport analytics program that admitted its fifth class this Fall, networking with female role models in sports is essential as they enter a traditionally male-dominated field. With ongoing national efforts to encourage more young women to pursue science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM fields, female students in Falk’s sport analytics program are inspiring a new generation to follow in their footsteps.
“Our female sport analytics majors are truly trailblazers, jumping in headfirst to apply their skills and knowledge to this important aspect of sports business,” says Rodney Paul, professor of sport management and founding director of the sport analytics program. “They recognize they are role models and genuinely value, respect, and honor that role. They are leading the way for young women who love both sports and STEM programs in middle school and high school to careers in sports.”
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that through 2024, mathematical science occupations, such as data analysts and statisticians, are expected to grow at rates higher than average. From analyzing player performance to evaluating the effectiveness of sponsorships and advertising, organizations rely more than ever on trained professionals to process and analyze data.
Brown grew up watching her brother play sports, spending her free time studying baseball. She credits her calculus and studio art teachers for the skills and confidence to pursue a career in sport analytics and feels that inspiration is important to pass on. In addition to serving as a peer advisor and teaching assistant for first-year students, Brown also mentored high school students during Falk College’s Summer 2020 Berlin Sport Analytics Academy to enhance their analytical problem-solving and presentational skills. The Academy is made possible through generous support from Syracuse University Trustee and alumnus, Andrew T. Berlin ’83.
Like Brown, having siblings on travel sports teams that took her family across the country fueled Alison Gilmore’s passion for sports. “I was pretty good at writing but loved math, and I wanted to combine my passion for math with sports,” says Gilmore, a first-year sport analytics major.
During her sophomore year of high school, her father mentioned Syracuse University’s new program in sport analytics he’d heard about at work. She researched the program that night.
“It was exactly what I wanted. There was nothing else like it. And if I went anywhere but here, it would not have been the same. I am just very grateful for this opportunity.”
Gilmore is also a member of the Baseball Statistics and Sabermetrics Club and Sport Analytics Women Club. “Our program is very networking-oriented from the beginning. It is amazing and gratifying so early to have access to these professionals. It sets us up to succeed because we see what skills are needed to get to their levels,” says Gilmore.
Referencing professional broadcasters Holly Rowe and Maria Taylor, as well as San Francisco Giants coach Alyssa Nakken as role models for aspiring female sport professionals, Gilmore says, “given the roles these women are in, younger girls see these are attainable goals and gain confidence.”
Second-year sport analytics student Mackenzie Mangos has minors in economics and information management and technology, and plans to graduate in three years. As a high school student-athlete who captained her teams in soccer, basketball, softball and volleyball, Mangos always loved math, envisioning her major to follow that path. “The sport analytics major bridges two things I love: sports and math,” says Mangos, who plans to finish her degree in 2022.
Leadership qualities she fostered throughout high school continued when she arrived at Syracuse University, participating in the prestigious SABR Diamond Dollars Analytics Competition at New York University as a first-year student. It was a natural transition for her to start the Sport Analytics Women Club at Syracuse this fall.
“I felt that this club would be a place for women to feel welcome as soon as they get on campus or even before arriving,” says Mangos. The club’s membership, currently at 13 and growing, welcomes students from all across campus. The group hosted three guest speakers virtually this semester, including Olivia Stasiuk, a marketing analytics manager with the Dallas Cowboys; Dafna Aaronson, a performance and people analytics specialist for the Los Angeles Kings; and Bria Grant, senior manager of business intelligence with the Brooklyn Nets.
The group is focused on research projecting how women’s college basketball players will perform in the WNBA and plans to host tutorials on programs like R, Tableau and SQL.
Mangos believes seeing the success of other females in a predominantly male field will inspire more females to enter the industry. “Females are a minority in sport analytics, but there is so much opportunity for us,” says Mangos. “I hope our successes will encourage more women to pursue this career and want to enroll in this major here at Syracuse University.”
To learn more about Falk College’s programs in sport analytics, contact Professor Paul at rpaul01@syr.edu.
Read a related news story from AP News: First woman completing sport analytics degree at Syracuse U.
A Fighting Spirit
When Falk College sport venue and event management master’s degree student and Syracuse University basketball player Tiana Mangakahia ’19, G’21 returned to the court this season, she scored a major personal victory.
For Mangakahia—a two-time All-ACC First Team member and a 2018-19 All-America honorable mention selection—it was a moment she’d worked hard to reach after overcoming the stage 2 breast cancer that she was diagnosed with in June 2019. Ever the competitor, she endured round after round of chemotherapy and a double mastectomy before being declared cancer-free in November 2019. Throughout the process, Mangakahia stayed close to her teammates, supporting them from the bench as she recovered.
“It’s been difficult to get back into how I used to play, but it’s been such a blessing to even be able to play,” says Mangakahia, a native of Brisbane, Australia. “I have to remind myself that just being out there was my goal. When I first got back, all my emotions were crazy. I was happy, nervous, anxious—I couldn’t believe that the day had come. I couldn’t believe what I had to go through to get there.”
Through it all, basketball served as a welcome refuge—a happy place, she says. When she was able, she played pickup and stayed connected to the game, saying it gave her something to look forward to. “I’ve always loved the sport, and the passion and competitiveness I have for it,” she says. “It helped me stay hopeful.”
A Talent-Laden Team
As the 2020-21 season unfolded amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Mangakahia found herself in good company on the court. Coach Quentin Hillsman’s nationally ranked Orange feature four returning starters from 2019-20 and a highly touted group of first-year recruits. National media have described the team as “dangerous,” and one reason for that is the dynamic backcourt duo of Mangakahia and Kiara “Kiki” Lewis ’20, G’21, who played point guard last season, leading the team in points, assists and steals while earning All-ACC First Team honors. “This is the best team that I’ve played on at Syracuse,” Mangakahia says. “We have so much talent. We just have to learn to play together—understand how talented we are as a team and how far we can really go.”
Mangakahia can tear a game wide open with explosive play, and is widely recognized on preseason watch lists for national awards. She was named to the Wooden and Naismith lists for most outstanding player; Mangakahia was nominated for the third time to the Nancy Lieberman Award list as a top point guard.
Lewis appreciates that her hard work throughout her career has paid off with recognition, and says that just being able to play during the pandemic has been rewarding. She has looked forward to the whole team coming together and winning games. And with Mangakahia as a backcourt mate, she has embraced shifting from point guard to playing off the ball and shooting. “It’s great playing with her,” Lewis says. “It makes my job easier.”
The Fighting Spirit Heritage
Mangakahia has played basketball competitively since she was young. Her mother was a club basketball president—and with five brothers, there was no shortage of competition. She also may have inherited the fierce fighting spirit of her great-great-grandmother, who is considered one of the most influential Maori women in New Zealand history. She was the first woman to address the country’s Parliament, stood up against alcohol abuse and domestic violence, and advocated for women’s right to vote and hold legislative seats. “She was such a strong woman,” Mangakahia says. “Her name’s Meri Te Tai Mangakahia. I’m named after her; my middle name is Meri.”
When asked about her court vision and passing, she remembers being captivated by her uncle’s passing when the family played pickup games. “It was so cool,” says Mangakahia, who was named to the Australian Senior National Team in July. “I’ve just always been a passer. If it helps get everybody involved in the game, it makes me feel good.”
Those assists piled up quickly at Syracuse as she led the nation in assists (304) and assists per game (9.8) in her sophomore season (2017-18) and became the program’s all-time assist leader in the 2018-19 season. That season, she also surpassed the 1,000-point mark faster than any player in the program’s history. While Mangakahia has always viewed herself as an assist point guard, she credits Coach Q with turning her into a scoring point guard.
Support From the Orange Community
When Mangakahia was diagnosed with cancer, she shared a public statement saying, “This is beatable, and I will fight and win.” She cited the tremendous support she received from the local community and the ’Cuse family. Her family was there for her as well, she says, noting that her brothers shaved their heads in solidarity as she went through treatment. She’s thankful for all the support—including the proceeds from the Tough4T warm-up shirts, which helped her family make the trip from Australia to be with her. Mangakahia was also touched by all of the cards and letters she received, especially from other cancer patients sharing their struggles and calling her an inspiration. “It helped me stay strong for those who were going through it also,” she says. “And the coaching staff and my teammates were amazing through it all.”
Gearing Up for a Long Season
This season’s goal is to win the national championship. But the Orange go game by game and must reach the goals that Hillsman sets for each one. If they fall short, they run and run and run. To execute Coach Q’s up-tempo offense and pressure defense, they have to be in prime physical condition.
Under Hillsman’s guidance, Mangakahia has polished her skills to reach the next level and play professionally. As a veteran player and graduate student, she also recognizes her role as a leader and wants to help the team reach its potential.
Mangakahia says being sidelined on the bench last season helped her become a more vocal leader. She knows her teammates respect her knowledge and says that’s given her the confidence to lead. She likes to talk to teammates individually and encourage them to stay focused, especially amid the challenges of playing during the pandemic. “We have so much depth in our team, and we can go so far. I always remind them that we need every single person,” she says. “With COVID-19 going on, we have to stay engaged and understand that this is a temporary situation for a lifetime goal—winning a national championship.”
~ Adapted from a Syracuse University Story by Jay Cox originally published on January 12, 2021.
Highlights aplenty from unique Fall 2020 semester
Though this semester was unlike any other here at Syracuse University, we’re incredibly proud of our students, who continued to make huge strides in their academic programs. Also, our faculty continued to make an impact on the sport industry by giving numerous conference presentations and having their research published. It was a semester where guest speakers were hosted virtually and meetings conducted by Zoom.
Here are some of our Fall 2020 highlights:
- The Department of Sport Management formed a Diversity and Inclusion Committee that has met monthly since June 2020 to create new programing and initiatives for students, faculty and staff.
- More than 30 alumni guest lectured in our classes this semester, while another 15 participated as panelists for the 4th annual SPM Alumni in #SportsBiz event in October. We are thankful that so many alumni are willing to volunteer their time to speak with and mentor our students.
- The 16th annual Charity Sports Auction went virtual for the first time in program history. We’re proud to say we raised more than $43,000 for Meals on Wheels Syracuse! The SPM Club’s Charity Auctions have now donated more than $567,000 to charities in the Syracuse community.
- The Soccer Analytics Club and Sport Analytics seniors Kushal Shah and Colin Krantz presented their research at the Midwest Sport Analytics Conference and the Carnegie Mellon Sports Analytics Conference. Sport Analytics freshman Bruce Liska also presented at Carnegie Mellon. Sport Analytics professors Dr. Shane Sanders and Dr. Justin Ehrlich, along with Sport Analytics graduate Dylan Blechner ’20, virtually presented at the Midwest Sport Analytics Conference.
- Twenty-two Sport Management seniors completed their Capstones in Fall 2020.
- Sport Management sophomores Melanie Kelly and Colby Murphy, with faculty mentor Dr. Mary Graham, presented their paper “A Scholarly Exploration of National Football League Teams’ Rationales for not having Cheerleaders” at the 7th Biennial Seneca Falls Dialogues in October.
- Students in this Fall’s SPM 324 Sponsorship and Promotion class partnered with the Football Bowl Association (now called Bowl Season), working with industry leading Sponsor United software to build a sales deck using real-life potential corporate sponsor prospects.
- Sport Management assistant professor Dr. Jeeyoon Kim presented her co-authored research on “Positive externalities from professional sports club in Germany” and “All sports are e-sports?” at the Fall 2020 European Sport Management Conference.
- The Sport Analytics Learning Community took part in a Tableau Workshop as well as hosted professionals from Major League Baseball’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program.
- Sport Analytics senior Dylan McGee presented his research on “Reclassifying Relief Pitchers” at the Fall 2020 UConn Sport Analytics Symposium. Using “K-Means Cluster Analysis on Standard, Batted Ball and PFX Data,” McGee can cluster relievers into new roles based off their strengths/weaknesses.
- More than 400 people joined our Nov. 17 webinar on “COVID-19’s Impact on the Sport Industry” moderated by SU alumnus Mike Tirico. Stay tuned for more information on our upcoming 2021 webinars.
- Sport Analytics senior Samuel Marteka and junior Mackenzie Mangos are working with Sport Analytics assistant professor Dr. Jeremy Losak (SPM ’16) on a research project titled “The Impact of College Conference TV Networks on College Football and Basketball Attendance.” This research is conducted as part of an ACC Initiatives grant (PDF) worth $2,700 from the ACC-CRIA Innovation Initiative Small Grant Program.
- Members of the Football Analytics Club took part in a Mock Case Competition in October. The students were tasked with projecting the contracts and future performance for certain NFL free agents.
- The Sport Management Learning Community hosted several guest speakers this semester, including Syracuse University Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director for Communications Sue Edson on the importance of marketing and public relations in the sport industry.
- Our Sport Venue and Event Management graduate program welcomed 15 students to campus in July. Along with classes, the students spent part of the Fall 2020 semester planning a virtual charity event set for Spring 2021.
- Sport Analytics senior Drew DiSanto took the Fall 2020 semester off from classes at Syracuse University when he was offered a full-time, on-site internship with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.
Sport Analytics senior jumps at chance to intern with Buffalo Bills
Although the full-time, paid internship meant taking a leave of absence from his SU classes for the semester, DiSanto knew it was an opportunity he could not pass up.
“I applied knowing that if I was offered the position, there was no way I could turn it down,” said DiSanto, who has been with the team since July 2020. “I knew I would need to take the semester off from classes, but the opportunity to work for an NFL team does not come around very often. This internship is a great resume builder, and it has taught me many valuable, hands-on aspects of working in sport.”
DiSanto worked in the Bills’ Analytics and App Development Department as a Data Analytics Intern. Using Microsoft SQL, he managed stored procedures and views, and analyzed the Bills’ opponents to find their strengths and weaknesses, as well as opportunities or threats they may pose on gameday.
“I learned a lot about communication, and how to convey the data we utilize to the coaches and scouts on a daily basis,” he said. “I know I’m in the right workplace when my 10- to 12-hour days feel like three hours.”
DiSanto, who is from Williamson, NY, will return to SU’s campus in January 2021 to complete his classwork in Spring 2021 and Fall 2021, with a goal of graduating in December 2021. Does he hope to continue to work in football?
“I am not sure yet about my future plans,” he said. “I am considering pursuing my Master in Applied Data Science at Syracuse. However, everyone at the Bills has been incredibly kind and I am very fond of this organization.”
Learn more about the Sport Analytics program.
Nov. 17 webinar focuses on COVID-19’s impact on the sport industry
- Nick Carparelli, executive director, Bowl Season
- Sandy Montag, president/chief executive officer, The Montag Group
- Kevin Rochlitz, senior vice president/chief sales officer, Baltimore Ravens
Mike Tirico spent 25 years handling a variety of assignments for ESPN, ESPN Radio and ABC Sports before joining NBC Sports in 2016 as one of the most recognizable faces and voices in the industry.
“We are thrilled to present this webinar to a global audience on a topic that is affecting people around the world,” said Michael Veley, director and chair of Syracuse University’s Department of Sport Management. “Dr. Larsen and Dr. Kmush are respected epidemiologists who will shed light on our current situation regarding the pandemic and what those of us in the sport industry can expect as we wrap up 2020 and head into 2021. And with Mike Tirico as the moderator, this is an event you don’t want to miss.”
Dr. Larsen is an epidemiologist with expertise in global health and specializes in the surveillance, control, and elimination of infectious disease. Since the Coronavirus pandemic began, he has led efforts on a statewide wastewater surveillance platform for New York, and guided Syracuse University in bringing students back for the Fall 2020 semester.
Dr. Kmush’s areas of specialization include epidemiology, global health, infectious diseases, vaccines, nutrition, immunology and environmental exposures particularly within the context of risks for infectious diseases. Since the pandemic began, she has been instrumental in helping to guide Syracuse University in its efforts to stay ahead of the virus.
View a recording of the event.
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