In an era where the big payday of professional sports is so alluring for athletes that they often forgo earning a college degree, the VCU SportsCenter is coordinating “The Journey,” an event featuring top professional and collegiate athletes. They all have local ties, either raised, or having spent time, playing or coaching in the area, and will share their journeys with young people in Richmond to teach them the importance of staying in school and making smart decisions. The speakers will tell stories of the recruiting process and share tools, among other things, meant to assist student-athletes in reaching their full potential on and off the field.
The SportsCenter is a graduate program that “focuses mainly on experiences during the program along with a solid base in the business disciplines within the sports industry,” according to its Web site, and it is the investment in the students that makes the program so effective in preparing tomorrow’s sports leaders.
Dustin Bass, a student in the program, has been working on selling the event to local sponsors, primarily the Boys and Girls Clubs in the Richmond area. The target market is middle and high school kids, but VCU students are more than welcome to attend the free event. Bass is hoping that “these kids will see the importance of staying four years in school,” adding “it’s not all about the spiral and the shoes you wear.”
The SportsCenter has been planning this event since September. Another student, Kelly Kolker, compared the process to writing a paper.
“The first semester was like writing the draft. The whole semester was pretty much spent putting the whole idea together, and then the second semester was putting the plan into action,” Kolker said. “It’s important to emphasize the unique opportunity that something like this gives to the community and athletes.”
How were the students able to attract such quality people to speak at the event?
“It’s really not as hard as people might think,” Kolker said. “Yeah, they have local ties, but they’re really interested in being a part of this service…so it’s just a matter of picking up the phone and calling people.”
All of the hours the SportsCenter has put in behind the scenes will culminate in “The Journey” tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at the Stuart C. Siegel Center. Admission is free to the public, and the projected turnout is between 2,500 and 3,500 attendees.