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  • Bismanbir Singh – Entry Blog, Marketing, Communications, and Events Assistant

    Wednesday, November 06, 2024 | By

    Sport has been a major part my life since I was young. I have played a range of sports and have participated at national level in Field Hockey and Roller Hockey. Also, I started swimming at a young age and competed in state level championships throughout my time in secondary school. Swimming was the first sport where I experienced success.  Our Roller Hockey team was a national champion back in 2019, maintaining an ongoing streak of being champions from the past 6 years. My biggest achievement was when I got selected as one of the top 24 players to represent my country.  Sport can be a positive way to promote physical fitness and teamwork throughout the world. The journey has been quite long, but my passion for sport will always remain the same, and my passion for sport is one of the reasons why I am excited to intern at Centre for Sport Capacity (CSC).

    Hi! My name is Bismanbir Singh, and I am an international student from India. I live in Chandigarh, Punjab . It is one of the most beautiful cities of India. I am currently in my 4th year pursing a major in Business Communication and a minor in Media Studies, with graduation set for April 2025. I love watching and following different sports. My favourite sport to watch is Hockey (Field Hockey and Roller Hockey), I have started to follow Ice hockey since I’ve moved to Canada and to get back on field as soon as possible. I played at KBDAV Senior Secondary School which is well known for hosting many national level Championships. This year I will be interning as the Marketing, Event, and Communications Assistant at the Centre for Sport Capacity (CSC) at Brock University.

    I discovered the chance to be a part of the CSC team by going through the course calendar when searching for a a COMM 4F00 placement. Being an avid sport supporter, the opportunity to combine my passion with knowledge acquired in Business Communication and Media Studies was something I could not miss. The lessons I hope to learn at the CSC include increasing the capacity of sport organizations, working with the community, as well as marketing and event planning.  the most thrilling aspect about this position is that it blends sport and expertise in strategic communications and the management of events. I am particularly proud of my skills as an organizer, creative, and team player,  which will be beneficial for CSC’s future activities. I think this place is one of the best to put into practice all the communication skills acquired throughout the program while serving the community in the sporting field.

    My Brock experience has been instrumental in leading me to the Centre for Sport Capacity (CSC). Throughout my time in the Business Communication program, I’ve gained a strong foundation in Professional Communication, Media Analysis, and Public Relations, all of which are critical to my role at the CSC. Courses like Research Methods in Communication and Culture helped me develop analytical skills, which I now apply to understanding the impact of sports communication strategies. My involvement in Brock’s diverse academic and extracurricular activities also exposed me to various networking opportunities, ultimately leading me to the CSC placement through the course calendar. Brock’s emphasis on experiential learning, combined with my passion for sports, naturally steered me toward the CSC, where I can apply the skills I’ve developed and contribute meaningfully to sports capacity-building projects.

    At the Centre for Sport Capacity, I am most excited about applying and refining my skills in Professional Communication and Public Relations. Managing social media for the CSC allows me to use my knowledge of Networks, Digital Identities, and Interactions to engage and grow our audience while ensuring our messaging remains consistent and impactful. I am also eager to develop further insights into Media Analysis and Audience Studies as I work on projects like the State of Sport in Niagara Report – Webinar and Workshop. The opportunity to contribute to the Fee-for-service Model project will also be a great way to explore Organizational Culture and how integrated marketing communications can influence the development of new service offerings. Lastly, I am looking forward to organizing events like the Matt Hoven “Hockey Priest” Author Reading and Book Signing, where my event management and research skills will truly shine.

    In conclusion, my journey with sports has shaped not only my personal development but also my professional aspirations. As I step into my role at the Centre for Sport Capacity, I am thrilled to merge my lifelong passion for sports with the skills I have honed through my Business Communication program. This internship offers the perfect platform to apply my expertise in marketing, event planning, and communication in a meaningful way. I look forward to contributing to the CSC’s initiatives, growing as a professional, and learning new skills that will help me make a positive impact in the sports community. My experience at Brock and this placement will undoubtedly prepare me for the future, where I hope to continue blending my love for sports with a career in communication and event management.

     

    Categories: Students, Uncategorized

  • Georgia Rudolph – 2021 Events, Marketing, & Communications Assistant Intern

    Wednesday, October 27, 2021 | By

    Georgia Rudolph is a fourth-year business communication student at Brock University. This school year, she is the Events, Marketing and Communications Assistant (intern) with the Centre for Sport Capacity.

    Hello! My name is Georgia Rudolph and I am in my fourth and final year of the Media and Communications program at Brock University. I have recently been brought on to the CSC team for an 8-month position as an Events, Marketing, and Communications assistant. As an individual with a strong passion for sport, the Centre for Sport Capacity’s mission and values strongly appeal to me, and I am beyond excited to be a part of the CSC team for this school year.

    During my time here at Brock, I have had the opportunity to expand my knowledge within the communications field through courses in digital design, journalism, audience analysis, and research methods, just to name a few. Our academic department offers a full-year course entitled “Internship in Communications, Pop Culture or Film” for fourth-year students. This opportunity caught my eye as it offers the ability to immerse students into a workplace in order to further develop the skills obtained through our education at Brock. Upon reviewing the internship opportunities offered within the program, the Events, Marketing, and Communications Assistant position at the CSC immediately caught my attention. I took a few days to refine my resume and cover letter, as well as collect references from past employers to present the CSC with a well-rounded application. After expressing my interest in the position, the CSC team reached out to me for an interview where myself and coordinator Cole McClean discussed the position, the CSC’s ideal candidate, and my qualifications for the role. After this conversation, I was thrilled to learn I had been offered the position.

    Two main aspects fueled my interest in this position at the Centre. The first was the opportunity to develop a wide variety of skills through this internship position. The Events, Marketing, and Communications Assistant role covers a lot of ground, from event management to content creation for social media as well as general communication and marketing. This piqued my interest as the position offers the opportunity to develop skills and gain experience in an array of fields. Furthermore, my passion for sport made the Centre an ideal fit. Growing up I participated in an array of sports, and along the way began swimming competitively. I quickly developed a love for the sport of swimming, and have carried that passion all the way to Brock where I compete on the varsity team. Along with training and competing for Brock, I coach youth athletes for the local swim club, as well as volunteer at club-level clinics and competitions. My love for sport has motivated me to pursue multiple communications positions within the sport industry, most recently with Pentathlon Canada and Swimming World Magazine. Upon reviewing the mission and values of the CSC, I was immediately drawn towards the organization as my lifelong involvement in sport has fueled a strong understanding of the importance of sport within our community. I am incredibly excited to be in a position where I can not only gain experience within the communications field but also contribute to the local community through the many projects CSC offers, such as our webinar series and Sport Support Team.

    One of the aspects of this internship that I am most excited about is the ability to work in a team environment. As a student, there is still so much to learn, and I strongly believe that working with a group of peers is one of the best ways to further yourself professionally. I am super grateful that this position allows me to collaborate with other interns, as well as the full-time CSC staff.  I am beyond excited to learn from this team of professionals, as well as share my own knowledge and experience. Together, our team will be combining our skills to work on a variety of projects.

    One project that I will be working on over the year is a new initiative that the CSC is launching, the Sport Support Team. The SST is an experiential learning opportunity where post-secondary students partner with local sports organizations to provide practical support in functional areas of the organizations. This initiative was strongly motivated by the struggles that many sport organizations have faced due to the COVID pandemic. I have seen firsthand the challenges coaches, athletes and volunteers have faced in the wake of the pandemic, therefore I strongly believe this initiative could have a large impact on any organization involved. I am beyond excited for the opportunity to work on projects such as this one that provides support to Niagara region sport institutions.

    Through my past positions within the sport industry, I have had the opportunity to develop hard skills in digital media, design, and communication. While working with the CSC, I aim to put these skills to work in order to help make an impact within the Niagara region and beyond. I hope to bring my unique perspective to contribute to the Centre’s success within the many initiatives spearheaded by the CSC. Furthermore, I hope to use this opportunity to create connections with industry leaders, as well as other young professionals with shared passions.

    Categories: Blog, Students, Uncategorized

  • September Showcase – Dr. Kirsty Spence

    Thursday, September 30, 2021 | By

    Our September Member showcase is… Associate Dean of Teaching and Undergraduate Studies at Brock University, Dr. Kirsty Spence

    This month we learned about Dr. Spence’s path to her current role, her favourite thing about being a part of the Brock Community and some future plans she’s looking forward to.

    Background:

    My current role is the Associate Dean (AD) of Teaching and Undergraduate Studies for the Faculty of Applied Sciences (FAHS). I look at this position as encapsulating many of my strong interests, as through my work in this role, I focus on preserving the high quality of teaching across various programs within the five departments of the FAHS. As my home base is the Department of Sport Management, I continue to complete Sport Management research projects and teach SPMA students in addition to integrating many of my responsibilities while working in this administrative role.

    In my Undergrad years, I studied within the Bachelor of Kinesiology program at McMaster University and while there, I fell in love with the sport administration field, which was an earlier name for sport management. Through that early passion, I honed my interest in management and administration and upon graduation, I entered the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) program at the University of Toronto to become an elementary school teacher. After graduating, I taught for eight years, from 1991- 1999 in elementary schools in Canada, Russia and Taiwan. During that time, I also taught a variety of subjects and grades, from Kindergarten-aged children through to Grade 8 aged students. Aside from teaching, I volunteered a fair amount of time as a coach of many sports teams in these educational institutions. Those early years of my career certainly set the stage for a love of teaching and learning. In 1999, I returned from teaching in Taiwan, having decided to enrol in the Master of Human Kinetics (M.H.K.) program at the University of Windsor to deepen my studies in Sport Management. I have since seen the threads of teaching, management and leading through my sport management academic career in research, teaching and service activities. All of that has served to provide me with a rich career that started in the early 90s and allowed me to teach students from Kindergarten through to Ph.D. level contexts.

    My specific academic work in leadership development speaks to helping people develop their capacity as leaders, whether through research projects, teaching students as future industry leaders, or coaching organizational leaders. So, joining the Centre for Sport Capacity (CSC) was an easy decision for me. When I first came to Brock in 2004, the Canada Sport Policy had already been developed in 2002 around four pillars including enhanced participation, enhanced excellence, enhanced capacity, and enhanced interaction. When I thought about my research area of leadership development and then later, my work as a certified leadership coach with Integral Coaching Canada®, I wanted to work with sport leaders to help them enhance their developmental capacity, a value I felt was implicitly encompassed in Canada’s Sport Policy. I feel that this is largely what we’re working with here at the CSC, helping people in sport organizations increase their capacity so that more effective outcomes are possible for them and their organizations.

    Teaching:

    I typically teach first year undergraduate students in SPMA 1P92 and graduate (M.A.) students in a Leadership and Organizational Behaviour course. For me, these two courses are bookended, as I get to see students experience both their first year in the undergraduate and then their first year in the M.A. program. What really excites me about teaching first-year students is at its simplest form, I can welcome and be a friendly face to students who are new to Brock University. When I think about teaching students representative of a large age spectrum as I have, I believe very similar qualities or principles of being an educator apply, regardless of students’ ages. Qualities such as trust and respect, as well as the educator’s actual love of teaching and learning are the same, regardless of age. What excites me the most is just the ability to be a part of that welcoming process in any way. I can be a piece of that greeting committee, to say, Hey, welcome to Brock! Welcome to sport management, you’re going to have a great experience here. I want to try to be as best as I can be so that students can be as best as they can be in starting the program. Beyond that first-year introduction, to see students’ growth through their journey in the program is monumentally exciting. I have very much enjoyed seeing students walk across the stage during graduation, it’s unbelievable to see how much they’ve developed as people and I am gratified knowing I was a part of that in a small way.

    Research Work/Projects:

    There are a couple of research projects happening, but one exciting research project is happening alongside Dr. Mike Van Bussel, also a CSC Member and an alumna of our Master’s program, Dina Bell-Laroche. We’re collaborating on a Canadian leadership development program for sport leaders, called the Sport Leaders Retreat, Virtual Edition; it’s a first of its kind in Canada. As the facilitator, Dina is a leader of leaders and we are tracking her leadership facilitation through the program and the impact of the leadership development program on both participants’ personal leadership and on their sport organizations. It’s really exciting to see somebody putting this kind of curriculum into action to help impact the development of Canadian sport leaders and their capacity. This project represents the work that I felt needs to be done within the sport management discipline. It’s really inspiring to me that we’ve come to a place in time where all conditions are right to make this project happen.

    Icebreakers:

    • What’s your favourite TV Show right now?

    Well, I have to say, Ted Lasso. It’s an all-around awesome show, which is very funny and that in my opinion, demonstrates effective leadership and management in the context of a Premier League (European Football) sport organization. I enjoy seeing shows that have an organizational lean to them. I feel it’s an uplifting antidote to some of the darker news we are facing in today’s world.

    • What is your favourite sport or sports team?

    Do you have to even ask this? Of course, the Toronto Maple Leafs!!

    Achievement/Awards:

    I’ve been fortunate to receive several awards focused on University teaching and learning. Most recently, I received the Brock University Distinguished Teaching Award in 2019, where I was recognized for teaching excellence and educational leadership within the Brock community. I also very recently received a Best Reviewer Award from the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada, for my work as a reviewer for conference abstracts. I mention this award as I was happy to know that my review efforts, which were in service to another person’s research work, were recognized as strong and helpful. We are fortunate as academics to engage in interesting work and receive recognition occasionally in various ways and I have appreciated being recognized for my work in the past.

    Future Plans/Desires:

    My future plans would include continuing my efforts to integrate areas of interests, for which I feel passion into my job, including equity, diversity, inclusion, leadership and human development interests. My desires are really centered upon serving other folks and helping them become better students, staff, or faculty, however they define “better.” That’s the great thing about working within the A.D. position, I can help serve other people and their development and I am happy to continue to be a part of that.

    Categories: Blog, Member Showcases, Uncategorized