Hazel Campbell is a fourth-year Sport Management student at Brock University, who took on the role of Webinar & Forum Coordinator, as part of an experiential education credit with the CSC. Read on to hear Hazel’s thoughts after completing her placement with the Centre for Sport Capacity.

Are you the type of person that learns better in a practical, hands-on environment? I am definitely one of those people. Although I have done well in my four years at Brock, going into my last semester, I felt that I still lacked skills that I could apply directly to my future career. When I began my Sport Management experiential education placement as the Forum and Webinar Coordinator with the Centre for Sport Capacity (CSC), I was looking to improve my transferable employability skills.

Doing this SPMA 4P99 placement with the CSC has been the most rewarding experiences in my four years at Brock. In my semester with the centre, I staged a successful webinar (see Past Webinars), I am also organizing an upcoming three-day forum, Athletes First: The Promotion of Safe Sport in Canada. I’m developing exciting new skills that I could not hope for in a typical lecture-style courses.

In my role as the Webinar Coordinator, I drastically improved my professional communications skills. Throughout the process of planning the webinar, I made connections with CSC members, individuals from different departments at Brock, as well as individuals outside of Brock. I also built relationships with the panelists. I’m now comfortable interacting professionally with a variety of people, across a variety of platforms.

Serving as the Forum Coordinator gave me insight into the immense amount of work required to organize and facilitate an event. I am more organized than ever because I’ve been managing many responsibilities at once. I gained valuable firsthand experience to help me pursue a career in event management. Regardless of your specific career goals, I am sure you can improve your employability skills if you get involved with the CSC.

During my placement, I moderated the webinar that I planned. Moderating a discussion was not something I had done before, but I felt supported to try it by those involved in the webinar, and it was an exciting and valuable experience. This experience parallels my entire placement; during my placement, I was able to try many new things, while having the support to ask for help if I needed it.

My advice for students interested in getting involved with the CSC is to go for it. Even if you are not interested in, or unable to do a SPMA experiential education credit, there are many possibilities for engagement. The Centre welcomes students from many faculties and has opportunities for a variety of skill sets.

If your experience is anything like mine has been, you will gain invaluable experience and transferable skills. I would also suggest that students get involved sooner in your time at Brock rather than later. The only regret that I have about this experience is that I waited until my last semester to get involved.

If you are interested in connecting with the CSC, visit the CSC website for any placement/volunteer positions or directly reach out by submitting an intake form. A CSC team member will be happy to follow up with you.