Hello Future Students!
On Friday, April 5th, 2013 I had the opportunity to attend the 10th Annual Sport
Management (SPMA) Student Research Colloquium at Brock. Hosted at Pond Inlet by the Department of Sport Management, the Colloquium was a day long event that highlighted the importance of research within our field of Sport Management and allowed students to present their research to the group.
The day started with a keynote speech by guest professor, Dr. Geoff Dickson from Auckland University of Technology, in New Zealand. Dr. Dickson was visiting Brock, spending time in the Department of Sport Management. He spoke about his research career and encouraged students to remain curious, whether continuing education or working in the industry.
Following Dr. Dickson’s keynote address, the day of student research presentations began. These students were undergraduate and graduate students from Brock Sport Management, as well as visiting students from Cazenovia College (New York), Laurentian University (Sudbury), University of Waterloo, and Western University (London). Each student had 15 minutes to present his/her research, followed by 5 minutes of Q&A. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing my fellow SPMA students present their research and learned about some new topics from the visiting presenters.
After lunch, we had the pleasure of hearing from three industry professionals about the role research plays in their daily work. The speakers included:
- Robert Craig – Research Analyst, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd.;
- Dave Watkins – Senior Director, Data Analytics and Social Marketing, Hamilton Tiger-Cats; and
- Robert Hilson – Director of Athletics, Brock University.
This panel was very informative, as the speakers provided real world examples of how research is used within these large sport organizations. As a student currently conducting research and planning to work in the sport industry upon graduation, this discussion gave me information that I can definitely use in my future.
The day finished off with more student presentations and a research poster fair. It was a full day of great student research presentations and was very inspiring.
If you are a student entering the Sport Management program in the fall, I encourage you to keep an open mind to research. If you don’t think research is for you, attend next year’s Colloquium and you just may develop a new interest.
Until next time!
