Don’t Be The Weakest LinkedIn- Infographic

My interest is in learning more about student-athlete support services and what it really takes to build a career working with athletes outside of just playing the sport. I was also curious about how important experience and connections are in this field. I was especially interested in Noah Jacks-Waters because of his background as an athlete and how he turned that into a full-time role at Old Dominion. During the interview, I asked him about his journey, what got him into sports management, and how he ended up becoming a Student-Athlete Academic Advisor. He explained that everything really started with his own experience in sports, which helped him understand student-athletes on a different level. From there, he went to school for sports management and got hands-on experience as a Graduate Assistant at ODU, where he worked closely with athletes through things like tutoring, academic advising, and keeping them on track for eligibility. After building that experience, he was able to move into a full-time position, where he now works with about 80 athletes across different sports, helping them stay on track academically and prepare for life after college. Hearing his story really showed me how important it is to get experience early and build relationships along the way. The information he gave me helped a lot with my infographic, especially when it came to understanding the responsibilities of the job and the steps it takes to get there. Overall, it was a really helpful and interesting conversation.