{"id":40411,"date":"2016-08-08T09:49:16","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T13:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=40411"},"modified":"2020-02-05T10:17:01","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T15:17:01","slug":"spma-internship-takes-student-to-olympics-in-rio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2016\/08\/spma-internship-takes-student-to-olympics-in-rio\/","title":{"rendered":"SPMA internship takes student to Olympics in Rio"},"content":{"rendered":"

Josh Gordon\u2019s love of sport and courage to make it a career has led him all the way to Rio de Janeiro.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Gordon, a Niagara-on-the-Lake native who moved to Montreal a decade ago, decided to go back to school as a mature student.<\/span><\/p>\n

He left his day job after 10 years to pursue his passion for working in the sport industry, something he\u2019d been doing for years running a not-for-profit hockey tournament.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a winding road that included working with the <\/span>British Columbia Hockey League and Salmon Arm Silverbacks <\/span>and attending Brock University\u2019s Sport Management program.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt took me about a decade to find my way back to school,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, here I am finishing up my SPMA degree with an internship at the Olympics.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Gordon, who starts his MBA in Business Administration in September, has a summer internship with the Canadian Olympic Committee.<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s in Rio as a mobile solutions officer working to set up phones for Canada\u2019s athletes and support staff.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe relationships that I develop during my time in Rio will be something that I will cherish forever. I feel like it is impossible to measure the bond that you forge working long days for weeks on end with such incredible people in the Games environment,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gordon said the machine that is the Olympics is breathtaking.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo see the size of the team we have, and the team behind the team working to make sure everything is taken care of, has been amazing,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty incredible.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Brock

Brock University student Josh Gordon and SPMA academic co-ordinator Stephanie Brooks at the Rio Olympics opening ceremonies.<\/p><\/div>\n

Gordon said concerns about the state of Rio and its security seem overblown given all he\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>experienced in the week he\u2019s been there.<\/span><\/p>\n

He travelled to Brazil without hesitation and has no regrets, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe risk-reward factor is definitely hugely tilted in favour of the reward, I\u2019ve had nothing but positive experiences.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

From exploring Rio to hiking the beautiful hillside and mingling with locals, Gordon said everyone has been friendly and welcoming.<\/span><\/p>\n

And, the atmosphere among the athletes is the epitome of what sport is all about.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gordon won an internal draw that took him to the opening ceremonies of the games Friday, Aug. 5. As soon as he found his seat, he ran into a familiar face, SPMA academic co-ordinator Stephanie Brooks.<\/p>\n

He plans to take in some of the games while he\u2019s still in Brazil this week, going to men\u2019s golf, women\u2019s rugby and hopefully some of the diving qualifiers.<\/span><\/p>\n

While it\u2019s been challenging, Gordon is glad he changed course and became a mature student.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are pursuing something that is not your passion, it\u2019s going to make for a long life,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gordon plans to work in sport for another decade and eventually hopes to teach.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to combine my practical and academic knowledge to teach the next generation of sport leaders,\u201d he said. \u201cThe experience that I acquire in Rio will play an instrumental role in shaping my future as a sport leader.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Brock

Brock University Josh Gordon spends much of his free time exploring Rio de Janeiro while interning as part of his SPMA program.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Josh Gordon\u2019s love of sport and courage to make it a career has led him all the way to Rio de Janeiro.
\nGordon, a Niagara-on-the-Lake native who moved to Montreal a decade ago, decided to go back to school as a mature student.
\nHe left his day job after 10 years to pursue his passion for working in the sport industry, something he\u2019d been doing for years running a not-for-profit hockey tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":40414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,39,3319,4052,1],"tags":[216,4351,307,4342,3694,8665,4352],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40411"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40411"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40417,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40411\/revisions\/40417"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}